Point of No Return
by Anti-Sheep Era
Summary: A sort of origin story for Paily in the AU created in my "Dance in the Dark" ff. PLL set in a supernatural world where Paige and Emily encounter each other in a different world than the one they were used to. Will they find their way to each other or be torn apart by those around them?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all. As promised (somewhat), I am working on a fic that fleshes out the story behind the Paily exchange in my previous fic, Dance in the Dark. If you haven't read it, please do! But no worries, as that story can stand alone. If you have read the story, thank you :) I appreciate all of your reviews, follows and favorites. If you're reading this, I am assuming you know who the PLL characters are, what they look like and generally their sense of fashion. I am not particular adept at describing clothes, so if I don't just feel free to fill in the gaps. Having said that, I hope you enjoy this story! As always, hit me up with any questions/comments/concerns! I will address them in the following chapters.**

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**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 1**

It was evening time, the sun slowly making its way below the horizon. Paige had been walking for some time now, but she was not particularly adept at keeping time. The only thing she learned to never ignore was the moon. She could always tell what kind of moon it would be. And she knew that tonight the sky would be pitch black as the moon's cycle started anew.

This wasn't her first trudge through a forest, although she could tell it was a new place she had been trudging through now. Sniffing, she looked around for any sign of a clearing, needing an escape from the monotonous expanse of trees. _Not that I don't appreciate trees_, she thought as she adjusted her backpack. She really wanted to lie down under the stars. The blackouts provided by the new moon were always Paige's favorite time. She felt relaxed, as if the absence of the moon provided her body with a much needed rejuvenation. She hated feeling like her actions were constantly being dictated by the moon—she loathed its control over her.

As she looked to her left, Paige saw an opening and made her way over. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she had not eaten all day. Her ears twitched as various sounds around her informed her of all the available critters for her choosing. She licked her lips as she thought of the delicious meal she would be getting.

Making her way to the clearing, she saw a lake. Where the trees ended, a few yards of tall-grassy bank outlined the water, looking from a distance like it might just be a meadow. Excited about her find, Paige quickly shucked her clothes and bag off and jumped in the water finding it to be the perfect temperature for a swim. She laughed out loud as she splashed around, diving and swimming along the length of the lake. Water, for her, was worth about ten new moons. She never felt as comfortable and relaxed as she did when she was swimming. Being able to play around was a luxury Paige rarely afforded herself. She floated on her back, contemplating how she had ended up here.

At 13, Paige was like any other girl her age. She was in that awkward limbo of not being a child and not really being a teenager and she disliked that she was a bit taller than most of the other girls her age. She was in 8th grade, had solid grades and was quite the swimmer. In 6th grade, Paige had joined the school's swim team and whatever natural talent she had then became sharpened through two years of hard work and determination. Having been assured by her future high school coaches that she was a shoe-in for the varsity team, Paige began holding her head high as she looked forward to showing off her talents as part of a distinguished team. But as Paige sat in her bed, shaking uncontrollably, none of that seemed to matter anymore. She tried to grasp onto something, anything. Her hands clawed at her blankets as she tried to hold on, but she seemed beyond the ability to control her body anymore. Deciding-somehow-that she could not sit this out, Paige jumped from her bed and bolted from her room, running as fast as she had ever run in her entire life through the house. She flung open the back door, vaguely picking up the noises of confusion from inside the house as she threw herself on the grass of her backyard. As soon as fell under the light of the full moon, she changed—her body quickly morphed into a reddish-tinted-brown wolf-pup and she scampered away, whining as her mind tried to catch up with the happenings of her physical body. More scared than anything, the wolf-pup ran and ran, trying not to be overwhelmed by the new sights, sounds and smells.

Paige never stopped running after that night, too ashamed and scared to return home. Lucky for her, she lived near a vast expanse of woods and forest and it was this cover that she kept to. Ragged, worn out and looking for all the world like she had survived a fight with a wood chipper, Paige trudged through the thick forest, head down and her (metaphorical) tail tucked. She was the poster child for downtrodden, defeated…and it seemed as if she had no idea where she was going, if she was going anywhere—in fact, it might just be easier to say she didn't care. Her clothes hung loosely off her thin frame and she was covered in cuts, bruises and dirt. Her hair, which was messily pulled back in a loose ponytail, had become matted with all kinds of foliage.

When it was necessary, she traveled in town to "borrow" items and beg for scraps learning quickly that she could change shape at will, during any part of the day. The only time she had no control over the change was when there was a full moon and she changed whether she wanted to or not. She was young enough that her form looked like a stray puppy, although every now and then she picked up snippets of conversations from people who wondered if she was a wolf. Worried that she had garnered too much attention, Paige would spend longer days hiding out in the woods. Having acquired a backpack in one of her trips, she tried to horde as many supplies she could for those longer stints of hiding out. After a few days of this, the young girl was hungry and exhausted. She spent most of her time traveling, under the protection of the trees. Anytime she ran into people, she would change and hide. She found that the more she stayed in her wolf-pup form, the more she understood and used her heightened senses. This came in handy especially when looking for food, as Paige found it bearable to trap and eat small animals in her wolf form. And that's how Paige had lived for the next few years.

At first she loathed the change, thinking she was defective in some way. During her first year as runaway, scared, alone and _very_ hungry for the first time in her life, Paige resented the change and hated herself for it. It was bad enough being an awkward teen, but she felt betrayed that her body had been keeping such a big secret from her. Having been raised by a foster family, Paige couldn't turn to them for support as they more than likely had no idea the little girl they had been raising was also a wolf. She had trotted back one night, curious as to what her foster parents were doing about her absence, to find that they weren't in a big hurry to find her. Apparently she had been spotted mid-shift and they were glad to be rid of such a hideous creature. After that, Paige made sure that she never returned to her hometown again.

Now at age 16, she had gotten quite used to both her nomadic lifestyle as well as the whole turning-into-a-wolf thing. Being a fast learner, she quickly found out how useful her wolf form was both in additional strength and stamina as a human and as a wolf and she had become quite comfortable with this new part of herself. She could run faster than before, which meant that she was in top form for swimming as well. In addition, Paige found that she was able to hold her breath for incredibly long lengths at a time. Whether as a benefit of her change, genetics or both, Paige could easily pass for anyone 18 to about 22. She found this out quite recently when she snuck into a clothing store to get something to wear, something she didn't do too often as she had found out quickly to take her clothes off before she changed. Never the one for fashion, she tended to pick clothing she could be comfortable in, things that were durable. When she threw herself into a changing room, she realized a little too late that it was already occupied.

"_Hey."_

_Paige stiffened, gripping the clothing she had grabbed close to her body. She whipped around, her eyes doubling in size. She stood face to face with a girl that looked to be about her age, with dirty blonde hair curled around her face. Hardly breathing, Paige gave the girl a once over noticing that she must've caught the girl during mid-dress. She had on a skirt, a bra and no shirt. Paige blushed, casting her eyes down immediately. Apparently the other girl found this funny, as she gave a small giggle. Paige couldn't understand what was so funny but she was mortified and for some reason she was burning up and _**was the room shrinking**_?_

"_Guess these doors don't really lock, huh? Maybe that's why people usually knock…" the girl took a step forward, curious as to whom this tall, lean-muscled mahogany-haired girl was. She gazed appreciatively at the stranger's slender form, wondering if she was a runner. For her part, Paige was trying her hardest to avoid eye-contact and really, trying her hardest to avoid looking at _any_ part of the girl in front of her. She was torn between trying to be polite and trying to take her leave, but she found herself rooted to the spot. A couple of things were happening to Paige that she had little experience with—intense, almost paralyzing embarrassment and a slightly uncomfortable sensation that she vaguely recalled having had once before in her life. Before she could start to form an apology, the girl spoke._

"_Do you go to college here? I don't think I've seen you at the store before. And I would certainly remember someone as _handsome_ as you…" before she could say another word, her intruder had flung the door open and bolted._

After that little adventure, Paige had come away with more than a couple of epiphanies. Somehow, she was deemed both college-aged and handsome. Since when were girls _handsome_? _And I think I'm a little gay_, she thought to herself. But the latter made more than enough sense to her. She thought briefly of a "girl" crush she had had on a former teammate during her middle school years. Not entirely understanding it herself, Paige had taken it upon herself to challenge the girl more than anyone else on the swim team and she realized how much she wanted to be around her, how much she craved her attention. They had become friendly rivals, always trying to outdo the other during practices and swim meets. Their time together was regulated to team activities, as Paige quickly found out they belonged to different circles—"quickly" here meaning she was (_metaphorically, thank god_) body slammed into reality by a person Paige remembered not-so-fondly as _Satan_. But that was lifetimes ago for her and Paige shook her head, as if the literal movement would somehow rid her of those memories. But she would never forget that girl. Thinking back on it, the uncomfortable feeling she couldn't place in the store was just a shadow of what she had gone through when she was around that girl—her crush.

Paige sighed. As she turned to get out of the water, something caught her eye. Turning her head quickly, she saw someone on the other side of the lake. Startled, but quick-witted, Paige stopped moving. She was lucky that she had stopped so close to the shore, as the tall grass covered her for the most part. _Plus it's really dark. I doubt whoever that is has even noticed me at all_. Paige hadn't sensed any humans around, nor did she see any signs of this area being used for camping or anything like that. She was also very surprised that anyone could sneak up on her like that, as she was very proud of her heightened senses and her ability to be alert at all times. Looking at her mysterious guest, Paige could see that it was a darker, olive-skinned girl with long, black hair. She was sitting down, looking at herself in the water absently gliding her fingers along the surface of the lake. _Great, she's probably been here awhile. She must be really out of it, if she didn't notice me_. Paige cocked her head to the side, feeling a tug of familiarity but still uncertain. Just as she was about to move closer, the black-haired girl looked up not really looking at anything as if she was contemplating something that was giving her a lot of trouble. At this, Paige felt her jaw drop and she gawked at the other girl like she had sprouted another head.

_Emily?!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again. It's looking like I will be updating this story once a week. I have an idea as to where I want to go with it, but I'm always constantly questioning myself. Thanks so much for leaving feedback! XanDany and xfunkiddx, I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story so far. Glorymania, you know I kept wondering how I would pick up from Dance in the Dark and I figured an origin story would be super fun to write :) , thanks for your feedback! Your questions definitely keep me on my toes and I hope that I can adequately address/incorporate them into my story. Thanks for the follows/favorites and please review! Any and all feedback is welcome, as I would love some input to help the direction of the story. thanks!**

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**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 2**

"Emily."

Both the black-haired girl and Paige looked quickly to their newest guest. Quickly registering who the newcomer was, Paige bared her teeth, gripping the tall grass with all her strength. The small hairs on her neck stood up and she felt the wolf inside her fight for release.

"Allie," Emily said softly, bowing her head slightly in acknowledgement. She turned back to stare at the water, her hands continuing to glide back and forth across the surface. The girl, Alison, had a slightly roundish face which gave her the look of a younger teenager. Her cold, ice-blue eyes cut through the darkness as she stared down at the girl sitting beneath her. Reaching up to push her long, wavy blonde hair behind her shoulder, she sat down beside Emily and placed a hand on the girl's thigh.

Paige could barely comprehend the scene in front of her. Besides the fact that she was miles and miles away from her hometown, the fact that she ran into these two girls in the middle of a forest was incredulous. What were they even doing here? How did they get here? _What the hell was _Satan_ doing here_? Paige hadn't seen these two girls since she was in middle school and yet Alison looked just like she did when they were in 8th grade. Emily, however, looked to be about Paige's age. Her face had become more angular, evidence that she was past her baby-fat years.

"What's going on, Em? Why did you leave us?" the blonde haired girl asked. Paige noticed that the tone of caring in her voice, didn't quite meet her eyes. "I thought you'd enjoy the present I had found you."

Emily turned away, her eyebrows furrowing. Without realizing what she was doing, Paige moved forward, caught up in looking at the black-haired girl. She was slightly dazed, finding it hard to believe that after just minutes thinking about her, Emily seemed to appear out of nowhere_. It was like a dream_. The young wolf felt like she was still 13, gazing at Emily from afar whether it was across the locker room, during class or in the cafeteria. Luckily, she caught herself before she did anything else. She thought she saw Alison's eyes dart her way, but when she looked at her, the blonde-haired girl was still looking at Emily.

"Didn't you _love_ her?" Alison spat the word "love" like she couldn't wait to rid her mouth of it. Paige saw Emily clench her fists and she became excited at the prospect of her decking Alison. _Maybe I can get a shot in_.

"What did you expect? You were gone, Alison. We thought you had _died_. And you taunted us, made us do horrible things…and you never loved me like that, anyway. I know that now." Emily's anger seemed to have deflated as she said her piece. She didn't even look at the other girl the entire time she spoke. Paige wondered what she meant. _And you never loved me like that_…Paige could feel her body tense up, in reaction to Emily's emotions. She knew how horrible of a person Alison was, to her, during middle school. Apparently, she was even horrible to her best friends.

Alison smirked. She seemed satisfied at what she had gotten out of Emily, like it was just the reaction she was expecting. Reaching over, she grasped Emily's chin and pulled it towards her. Emily gave no resistance and her expression was one of someone who had resigned herself to whatever her fate may be. Paige was struck as to how hopeless the girl looked. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she contemplated ways of taking Alison down. _I have the advantage_, she thought, Satan_ wouldn't know what to do with me once I changed_. She pictured the girl screaming through the woods as she was being chased by a wolf. Dwelling on the image, she allowed herself the briefest moment of satisfaction. But Paige knew she couldn't hurt anyone, especially if they hadn't_ technically_ done anything wrong. As far as she could tell, they were having a disagreement over something that was of no concern to her. After all, these girls were worlds apart. So what if Paige had _had_ a crush on Emily? That was years ago and Emily probably didn't even remember her. Why was she making herself crazy over someone she barely even knew?

"You're mine. You and the rest of them. _Forever_." Alison had Emily's face inches from her own. For a split second, Paige thought that Alison was going to kiss her. Instead, she looked directly into Emily's eyes.

"Now go back to the others," Alison intoned in a voice that was off in a way Paige couldn't really pick up on. Without another word, Emily stood up (_rather gracefully_, Paige thought, still somewhat dazed) and walked away. Paige couldn't stop herself from watching the tall, elegant girl that was Emily Fields. Every feeling she remembered from before seem to be amplified and settling its way down to her core. It seemed like a part of herself she never paid much attention to had awoken and demanded that she follow the long-legged beauty. Blood boiling, her breathing increased and she felt the need to run some laps or do something that would both divert her attention and rid herself of the curious energy she suddenly seemed to be teeming with. Remembering that she was in water, she turned to pull herself on shore. However, it wasn't until she felt a hand around her neck that she remembered she wasn't alone.

"My, my. Fancy seeing you here, _Pigskin_."

Immediately Paige was on the offensive. Having learned quickly to trust her instincts, especially when caught by surprise she grabbed Alison's arm and pulled her into the water, certain that she had the advantage. The fingers around her neck loosened in their grip and Paige grabbed at Alison's wrists, gripping them a little harder than necessary. Paige had had her fair share of grapples, with both humans and animals larger than herself. She tended to have a harder time controlling herself when she was angry, especially when she was caught off guard.

"Things haven't changed much, huh? Still harboring dirty thoughts for my Emily. Embarrassed that you were caught poking yourself below the equator?" Alison taunted, looking pointedly down at the water then back up at Paige, who flushed with what she was being accused of as well as the fact that she had no clothes on. They hadn't seen each other in years and yet Alison spoke to Paige as if she had just bumped into her in the school hallway.

"I was swimming, not that it's any of your business," Paige spat. She had started shaking, her fingers digging into the cold skin of the other girl. She hardly noticed that the skin underneath her fingers was barely giving way to the pressure she was applying.

"And you just happened to appear in our neck of the woods, huh _Pigskin_? How convenient for you." Alison was looking at Paige with a hard, calculating stare with just the tiniest glint of puzzlement. Paige remembered that look, but she wasn't bothered by it like she had been years before. She was completely frazzled, both by her reaction to the sudden appearance of Emily and the intense hatred she felt for the girl across from her that she didn't even register Alison's slight confusion.

"Oh yeah, it's completely obvious that this is just incredibly convenient for me. There's nothing I want more than to spend my night listening to you run your mouth," the wolf growled.

"How about you let me go and I won't kill you."

Paige chuckled darkly. "You kill me? A lot has changed since we last squared off, blondie."

Alison tilted her head to the side, her lips forming a small, sinister smile. "You don't know how right you are, Pigskin. I know you've changed; I picked up on your wet dog smell the moment I walked into the clearing. You reek of it."

_No way_, Paige thought. _There's no way she knows that_.

"So how about you let me go?" Alison requested again, the sinister smile becoming a saccharine grin. "You have no idea what kind of world you have stepped in."

Paige snarled at the girl, fighting every instinct that was telling her to change. Something about the girl she was gripping kept her on edge and she knew it was way beyond a middle-school grudge. Alison kept grinning at her, but other than her words, she displayed no kind of threatening behavior. Glaring at her, Paige let go of her wrists. What could she possibly do to her anyway? She turned, finally making her way to the shore. Grabbing her clothes, she dressed quickly and turned to walk away.

"Not so fast." Alison had appeared a couple feet in front of her, with not so much as a sound indicating her having left the water. Paige knew, from dealings with Alison in the past, to never give her the reaction she wanted. So, instead of reacting to her sudden appearance, Paige crossed her arms and stared at Alison expectantly. _How did she do that?_ she wondered. _I should have heard her_.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you curious as to how I know what you are, mongrel? Not that I didn't know before, that you were a flea-infested tramp."

Paige bristled, the anger she felt in the water washing over her like waves.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she barked, glaring at the blonde-haired girl with all the ferocity she could muster. "How about telling me what the hell _you're_ doing here anyway!"

"Down girl," Alison said sarcastically, "look at you, all hot and bothered. It's a wonder Emily made it out of here without you attached to her leg." Paige balled her hands, the anger becoming vibrations that were coursing throughout her body.

"Shut up! I don't like Emily! I'm not like that!" she yelled, raising a fist in her outburst. Her vision had begun to change, shifting from her human perspective to that of a wolf's. Squeezing her eyes shut, she fought hard to dominate that side of her, fearing that Alison was creating an unstoppable tidal wave. Paige would kill her. She wouldn't be able to stop herself if this continued.

"As much as I'd love to see this display of _animosity _run its course," Alison drawled out, sounding utterly bored at the prospect, "I have much bigger things to attend to. I hope you remember what you just said. Stay away from things that are mine. Or else."

"She's not a thing," Paige muttered, before she could stop herself. She looked down at her feet, completely missing the pleased smirk Alison was sporting.

"How predictable. Well since you told me a secret, how about I tell you one? If there's one thing that can be counted on, regardless of what kind of world you find yourself living in, it's the currency and appeal of a good secret." Alison picked at her nails, waiting for the wolf's reply. Paige looked up at her, wanting nothing more than to be away from Alison and this conversation. However, the prospect of hearing a secret that had to do with Emily was too much to pass up and she hated that Alison knew that.

"Fine."

Alison giggled, an act that seemed bizarrely fitting for her appearance, but somehow weirdly so. Paige frowned at her as she knew that something was off, but she couldn't place it. She held her breath when Alison leaned towards her, whispering in her ear, but not before she caught a whiff of her sickeningly sweet scent.

"You're not a werewolf."

Paige's eyes widened in shock, despite her knowing that it was exactly the reaction the other girl was looking for. This was the last thing she expected to hear. Seemingly content with their interaction, Alison walked off.

"We better not meet again Pigskin. And remember, don't come close to _anything_ that belongs to me."

Paige glowered at the disappearing form of her past tormentor, the anger dissipating only to leave her feeling ashamed and humiliated. In the span of about an hour, Paige had encountered two people she never thought she'd ever see again. One she was glad to be rid of for good, or hoped to be rid of now after this strange encounter. The other…well, if Paige believed in fate she would be silly to downplay the appearance of a former crush only moments after thinking about her. But Paige didn't believe in fate. And regardless of how wonderful, how _beautiful_ she still found Emily…how much seeing her affected her mind and body (_especially her body_), even after 3 very long years, Paige had to remember that the girl didn't even notice her. She hated how Alison could turn something she had finally acknowledged to herself earlier into something she was shamed into denying ever existing. And if she wanted to play it safe, be in charge of her so-called "fate", Paige would have to make sure she never thought of Emily again.

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**Please review!**


	3. The Liars

**Hello! Sorry about missing my "weekly" updating schedule. Things are starting to get insane, as we near the end of the semester. I am still fine tuning the third chapter, so I have created a small vignette (if you could even call it that) dealing with the liars. I think that most of my story will be from Paige's POV but it'll be interesting to throw a little background into the story, as far as what the other characters are up to. Bear with me, please, because I'm still trying to get a feel for where I am going with this. As always, please please please review (any input/criticisms are always welcome!), thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting and I appreciate your patience :) **

**: Thank you so much! I'm trying to keep some things somewhat mysterious, but many of the elements I had in Dance in the Dark are definitely continued here. Hopefully you'll get your questions answered within the next chapter or two ;) Glorymania: It was strange how easy it was, writing Alison. It's looking like she won't show up too much any longer tho...definitely working on those Paily scenes, promise! Guest: Thanks! I will do my best to keep you interested!**

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**Point of no return**

**Chapter 2.5**

Emily opened her eyes.

She kept still, hands clasped on her stomach, as all of her senses shook off the last vestiges of sleep. Her ears picked up the subtle sounds of her sleeping friends but out of habit, she listened for one in particular. Not hearing what she expected, she turned her head slightly to the right to affirm what she already knew.

"Guys," she whispered, sitting up slowly in the pitch black room. One by one, they spoke.

"What is it?" Spencer said from her far right, her voice alert.

"What's going on?" Aria asked, from the same side of the room as Spencer.

"Where the hell am I?" Hanna asked groggily, at Emily's left side. Ignoring her, Emily addressed Spencer.

"Can you feel that?" she asked her, placing her hand over her own heart. She was looking directly into Spencer's eyes, a silent plea urging the other girl to answer.

"I can..." the other girl whispered quietly, placing her hand on her temple. Her eyebrows furrowed but her eyes widened slightly in confusion.

"Guys, what are you talking about?" Aria asked, watching their exchange with puzzlement.

"Yeah, and where is Allie?" Hanna added, finally sitting up. The words were barely out of her mouth before Emily leapt to her feet, flew up the stairs and threw the door open. She was out of the room before Hanna could form another question.

"What is it, Spence?" Aria asked, her doe-like eyes still trained on the door Emily had just disappeared through. Hanna was looking as well, her eyes filled with concern for her friend.

"You can't feel it?" Spencer asked the remaining two girls. Aria and Hanna turned to look at her, still not understanding what was happening.

"Oh my god…" Aria gasped, sucking in a deep breath reflexively. Hanna's eyebrows were so high they were in danger of receding into her hairline. "Allie…" she said weakly.

Each of the girls felt the same absence Emily had felt upon waking up. It was a dull ache that tugged at them from somewhere inside, affecting them in different ways. Spencer felt it almost like a headache, a persistent throbbing she couldn't ignore. Aria felt it like a sharp tingling, like how she used to feel when she got up from sitting cross-legged too long. For Hanna, it was like an ice-cold hand was squeezing her stomach. Each girl felt it, the loss of Alison resounded in not only themselves but in the physical awareness that she was nowhere to be seen.

But as they looked at each other, they could also see the effects of their loss manifest itself into one common emotion—relief.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello again!** **I hope I didn't lose you guys with my previous mini-chapter. We are now back in Paige's POV. I thought it'd be nice to write from a couple of different POVs throughout the story, just because I've never done it before. Once again, thanks for the reviews/faves/follows and please review! I'd love to know what you guys think :)**

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**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 3**

When Paige awoke the next day, it was mid-evening. Exhausted from the encounters, the young wolf didn't even bother hunting last night. Having caught the sound of running water, she headed towards a small stream and decided to sleep under the trees nearby. She was glad that the thick canopy blocked the sunlight from waking her up sooner. She stood up and walked to the stream, drinking deeply before she threw her clothes off. Seconds later she bounded away as a wolf, eagerly seeking dinner. She knew better to wait so long to eat.

After a while she returned, her belly full and ready to move. She changed quickly and threw her clothes back on, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Pausing to fill her water bottle, and to drink again from the stream, she decided to start walking. For a brief moment she considered heading back to the lake she had found last night. A part of her wanted to take the chance of "accidentally" bumping into Emily. She was conflicted, not only by Alison's warning, but by Paige's own emotions. She felt wrong in liking Emily, in wanting to pursue her in that way. But then again, she didn't. Who cares what Alison thinks? _And since when did she call the shots_? Tightening her grip on her bag, Paige stubbornly set her jaw and marched towards the lake. _Liking Emily wasn't wrong_. But even as she thought that, an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach making her anxious.

The weather was perfect. The sun was slowly setting, its rays warming Paige's skin as she walked. She tilted her head up, loving the way the sun warmed up her face. She was watered and fed and she never felt better (well physically, at least). It didn't take long for her to find the lake and Paige was certain that she would never have trouble finding it again. She walked over to the shore where she had seen Emily appear and sat down. Gazing down at the water, Paige wondered what Emily had been contemplating the other night to the point that she barely registered the world around her. Replaying last night's events in her mind, Paige recalled that Alison seemed to be taunting her about…_a girl_? _Emily likes girls_? Paige caught sight of her gaping reflection in the water and quickly snapped her mouth shut. But no, Emily loved someone. Or still loves someone. Having been hung up in the sheer disbelief of the moment, Paige had forgotten that Alison seemed to be dangling someone in front of Emily and the way Emily had talked last night, apparently that someone had at one time been Alison herself. It made sense, Paige thought, that Alison jumped on her so much about liking Emily. Even when Paige hadn't even realized to what extent she liked Emily—or even what it meant—Alison had twisted it into something _distasteful_. All that talk about staying away from her _things_. But Alison, Emily had said, didn't love her like that…

_Great job. You're doing a real great job not thinking about Emily_. Paige snorted. How quick her mind was ready to betray her. She inhaled deeply, hoping to ground herself. This was stupid. Yes, it was weird that she ran into the last two people she'd ever thought she'd run into. Yes, it was weird that they had run into each other so far from their hometown. Yes, it was weird that Paige was thinking about a girl she had a crush on three years ago. On the other hand…

What kind of small world was Paige really living in? Was it stupid to write off what happened last night as a random happening of events, just an eerie coincidence?

Taking another big breath, Paige caught a new scent. She recognized the sickly, sweet odor she had smelled from Alison and nearly gagged as she breathed it in. But when she turned her head to the left, her sharp nose caught a different smell. It was still sweet, but it didn't make Paige want to retch. It was more subtle, like powdered sugar as opposed to a thick, heavy syrup. _Emily_. Paige recognized that she was sitting at a sort of cross roads. To the left was where Emily had walked off to last night; to the right Alison; in front of Paige, beyond the lake was where she had come from; Behind her lay an expanse of woods she had not yet trekked, beyond the stream she had slept by last night. Paige stood up and dusted herself off.

_To hell with Alison_, she thought as she turned to her left and began to walk.

After she had been walking for some time, Paige shifted her thoughts (reluctantly) from Emily to the "secret" that Alison told her last night.

"_You're not a werewolf_."

So apparently Alison had become an expert in the supernatural, during her absence? Even Paige was unsure as to what to call herself, although she had to admit that was her first guess. And subsequently, what she had decided to refer to herself as (in her head, at least). What other creature turned into a wolf during the full moon? Paige hadn't been one for sci-fi, as most of her information came from movies or whatever was in for Halloween that year. Zombies, werewolves, vampires…

Vampires…Paige paused, in both her walking and thinking. She mentally pulled up the image of Alison and Emily, remembering how they looked so different. Alison still looked like an 8th grader whereas Emily looked to be a junior or senior in high school. But Paige shook her head. Did she really just consider that Alison could be a _vampire_? Paige knew there were a lot of things in the world she didn't understand but she was by no means a conspiracy-theorist. Shrugging her shoulders, and deciding that the world was crazy (and that certain people were crazier), she started to walk again. Off in the distance she spotted what looked like the corner of a house, or more likely a cabin. Still about a hundred yards away, Paige was in no hurry as she followed the trail of the sweet scent. The sun was still making its way down as she made her way over.

At the angle she was coming in at, it looked as if the cabin was abandoned the way it was set behind the tree line. However, as Paige circumvented the area she saw that it had a gated access, the front having been cleared enough to provide a path free of the surrounding shrubbery. Paige walked up to the closed gate, curious as to the cabin's occupants. Her nose was assaulted by a variety of smells, although she could still pick up on Emily's. She saw a figure sitting on the steps, a girl with large sunglasses who seemed to be looking straight ahead. She was as still as the cabin and Paige would've ridden her off as a statue if she hadn't looked too closely. Paige could see that she was breathing, at least.

"Who's there?"

Paige cocked her head to the side, not sure if she should answer. The girl continued to stare in her direction.

"Just passing by," she finally replied. She watched as the stranger's eyebrows came together for a brief moment, before returning to its original state.

"You're new," the dark haired girl said. "I know everyone who comes around here. I've never heard you before."

Considering her choice of words, Paige guessed that the girl was blind which would account for the sunglasses so late in the evening.

"So people come to your place often?" Paige asked. She didn't have a reason not to strike up a conversation with the girl and she very rarely had the chance to talk to many people. Not that it really mattered to her, but she did enjoy a human interaction every now and then. Plus, it wasn't like she had anywhere else to be.

The other girl smiled. "This isn't my cabin. But people make it a point to come here."

"It's true. Anyone who's anyone comes to party here," another voice added. From around the cabin, a dark-haired, slightly tanned guy walked over joining the girl on the steps. He nodded at Paige, receiving a nod in turn.

"If you found you're way over here, maybe you're _anyone_," he added, looking Paige right in her eyes. His words carried the weight of a double meaning; something Paige had more than enough experience in dealing with—what with all of Alison's hints to her true nature recently, for one. She met the dark-haired guy's gaze unblinkingly.

"You should invite her over tonight, Noel," the dark haired girl said as she turned to him, putting her hand on his arm. He glanced at her hand, then up to her eyes. Paige knew a silent conversation when she saw one, but she was intrigued as to how exactly they were doing that if the sunglasses-clad girl was indeed blind.

"Tonight is something like my 'welcome back' party," the girl continued, now addressing Paige. "It'll start as soon as the sun goes down. Won't you join us….I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"It's because I never threw it out. Neither did you."

The dark-haired girl chuckled. Paige noticed the guy, Noel, narrow his eyes slightly at Paige's reply. She didn't miss how the girl's hand gave his arm a small squeeze.

"My apologies. My name is Jenna. This is Noel and this cabin belongs to him." Noel smiled, showing his teeth. Paige knew that it was supposed to be a friendly gesture but the wolf-part of her recognized it as something more. It was then that she noticed how the lingering rays of the setting sun seemed to catch his eyes, much like how light reflected off of the eyes of a cat…

"I'm Paige," the wolf replied.

"Well then, Paige, won't you stay for the party? It'll start here soon," Jenna said, turning towards the fading light. _This girl is something else_, Paige thought. Was she really blind? If so, she was incredibly attuned with her surroundings. "If you need to, you can leave your stuff in one of the spare rooms. Right, Noel?" she added, turning towards him.

"Of course," he affirmed, nodding. "You're welcome to come inside, feel the place out if you want. Chill until the guests start arriving." Whatever trace of animosity Noel might've shown before was gone, as he easily transitioned into the perfect host. Paige could see that these parties were an important aspect of his ego to the point that he was unable to refuse hospitality to anyone. _And he probably would never consider refusing Jenna anything, either_. Before she could say anything, Jenna spoke again.

"I know you're new around here, so think of tonight as a good place to start networking. Making acquaintances, forging alliances," at this, both her and Noel smiled knowingly, sharing some kind of private moment, "You never know, maybe you'll run into _someone_ you know. Or maybe someone you'd enjoy _knowing_." At this point, Jenna was still smiling while Noel's had formed into a smirk. Paige wasn't sure why Jenna had stressed those words the way she did, but immediately her thoughts turned to Emily. _Could she know_…?

"Yeah, ok. Sounds like a real treat." Paige wasn't sure what kind of game these two were playing, but she was tired of running. She could sense that something was different here—different in a way that both intrigued her and yet kept all of her senses on edge. Having nowhere to go, and with nothing holding her back, she had no reason to not stay. _Besides, I can always leave_.

"Wonderful. Please come in."

Paige obliged, the gate creaking slightly as she opened it. As she walked over to the pair, Noel stood up. The wolf could feel that the air around Noel was different, like he was exuding some kind of other energy. Paige sniffed discreetly around him, finding that his scent differed from Jenna's in an unfamiliar way. Different even from Alison's last night.

"Here, let me show you to one of the spare rooms," he said, extending an arm towards the cabin. "Feel free to use whatever you need," he added, as he opened the door for her.

"Now you two play nice," Jenna said from her seat. Paige paused, turning towards the girl before following Noel inside.

"It's never in good taste to fight like cats and dogs. Especially before the guests arrive."

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**Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 4

**I know it's still off to a slow start, but Emily finally makes an appearance! Promise some Paily interaction very soon!**

**glorymania: Thank you so much for your support! I'm leaning more towards "were-panther" for Noel lol. But I will definitely have that featured soon ;)**

**Jamscottroc54: I'm glad you find it humorous lol. But yes! She pretty much is :)**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 4**

Paige had taken a small amount of time to familiarize herself with the cabin, after Noel had shown her to a room. The barrage of smells she had been assaulted with outside seemed to waft through the entire cabin, but less in the room she was in. She assumed that people tended to stay out of the bedrooms, at least in large groups. As laid back as Noel appeared to be, there seemed to be some order in regards to what the guests could and could not do. The young wolf didn't take too long inspecting the room, but she made sure to keep her stuff out of sight but somewhere she could easily reach, in case she needed to make a quick getaway. She would be stupid to place her trust in anyone she just met, but she knew to be especially careful with Jenna and Noel. They were dangerous for different reasons—Paige suspected that Noel was like her somehow whereas Jenna was something else entirely. Mysterious and elusive…the wolf knew to be cautious when dealing with her. As for Noel, she pegged him to be the "muscle" and quite frankly she wasn't scared of him one bit.

Walking out of the room, hands shoved into her pockets, Paige strolled down the hall into the open living room area. Across the room were tall, glass doors that led to the backyard. They weren't kidding when they said the party would start as soon as the sun set; she could see people already gathering around what she assumed to be drinks and food. As she turned to the front door, Jenna walked in. Deciding to sidestep her and walk out, Paige made her move but not before Jenna caught her arm.

"Paige," she said, "wait a second." _Ok, this girl is definitely spooky, _Paige thought. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, her body reacting to the eerie way Jenna navigated the world.

"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" Jenna smiled.

"Not frightened, no. You just caught me off guard," Paige replied honestly. "For someone who can't see, you're very good at getting around."

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment," the other girl chuckled. "People tend to assume that because you're blind, you have to always be bumping into things, or constantly tripping over your own feet. They forget that those who lose their sight, can make up for it with all of their other senses. Especially if they have been without it for a while."

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Humans are very resilient." She saw Jenna perk up at her words.

"You say 'human' as if you do not count yourself among us," Jenna mused. Before Paige could retort, Jenna guided her to a couch and sat down. "It was just an observation, no need to get all riled up. Besides, you're not as unique as you think."

Paige was rendered speechless. But just for a moment.

"Ok, what the hell is going on here? I just arrived in this place, wherever it is, and people are spouting cryptic double-meanings like we're in some kind of goddamned sci-fi psychological thriller!" Paige's voice was low and she spoke in hushed tones, but she could see heads turning her way in the backyard. She glared at the people who actually made eye contact with her, with most of them quickly returning to whatever it is they were doing. One girl met her eyes with a coy smile, one thin eyebrow rising just a tiny bit higher than the other. She winked at Paige before she continued with whatever it was she had been doing before. Paige curled her lip, a snarl forming at the base of her throat. Something about that girl irked her.

"Paige," Jenna said sharply, bringing the wolf's attention back to her. "You have come into something that has been going on for quite a while. You've been thrust into a world you had no idea existed, made all the more bizarre by your running into people who were once part of another reality."

"How do you know…?"Paige began to ask, before being interrupted.

"It doesn't matter. I know enough to keep me out of trouble, or at least it used to be enough. I know who you're hoping to run into and I can tell you that it's going to happen." Jenna was speaking quickly, but calmly. She knew that the knowledge she had was important.

"They're going to take you away for a little bit. They're going to demand some information from you. The less you know, the better you are," Jenna continued, matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean 'they'?" Paige asked. Jenna shook her head, smiling.

"Never mind, you'll know soon enough. Better get used to it, they're hardly ever apart anyway. Of course, that might all change," she added, somewhat smugly. Paige didn't much appreciate being left in the dark and Jenna's snarky attitude was starting to get on her nerves.

"Ok, fine. Why are you telling me this? What do you want from me?" Paige managed to ask without snapping.

"And here we are. They should have a saying about young dogs and old tricks," Jenna joked, to which Paige responded by clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. Sure, it had taken Paige a couple of years to deal with the fact that she turned into a wolf whenever she wanted, but it didn't seem to bother anyone else. Both Jenna and Alison had alluded to her double nature (_or even triple_, Paige thought bitterly), something Paige wasn't entirely comfortable with being thrown out in every conversation. Jenna's lips twitched, as if she wanted to smile but she didn't.

"Calm down. You better learn how to control your temper and quickly. We don't need you to cause any accidents," Jenna warned. Paige gnashed her teeth in frustration, but kept herself under control. Between Jenna and her encounter with Alison last night, Paige was certain she would attack someone soon. She needed to do something to let off all the tension, as she felt perpetually coiled to strike.

Jenna seemed to be waiting for Paige to settle down and as soon as she was satisfied that the wolf wasn't going to bite, she continued.

"As I was saying earlier, tonight is a big night. Now, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Anything you need will be provided to you, that is of course if you're willing to help out around here." As she finished, Jenna allowed herself to relax against the cushions of the couch. She continued to look at Paige, waiting for a response.

"What do you mean by help out?" Paige asked. Unlike Jenna, Paige sat with her arms crossed sitting against the back of the couch, but not relaxed at all.

"Just watch and listen. As the new girl, you're gonna be afforded a certain degree of suspicion, but also intrigue. This place is evenly divided, as you will see, and depending on who you align yourself with will decide both the benefits and consequences of your allegiance. I'm sure it sounds ridiculously medieval, but you have yet to understand exactly what it is you've gotten yourself into," Jenna divulged. Paige listened intently, albeit with some reservation. She wasn't sure that she really wanted to be involved with the politics of this area, but Jenna seemed too certain that she had no choice. Paige was starting to understand that Jenna did not say anything without reason to. As she opened her mouth to answer, Jenna suddenly stood up causing Paige to leap abruptly to her feet, ready to attack.

"I will give you until the morning to decide. You are about to get a taste of the real world you're living in, Paige McCullers." And with that, Jenna walked swiftly out the front door. Paige looked to the backyard, noticing that some people were making their way to the front. She spotted the girl who had caught her eye earlier; with thick dark hair and olive-skin the girl looked at Paige again, smiling sweetly. Scowling at her, the wolf looked to the other guests picking out Noel among them. He was talking with a guy who sported shoulder length hair, his skin slightly tanned just like Noel's. Deciding that she didn't really want to be in the backyard, Paige exited out the front. As she stood on the porch, she caught Jenna talking in hushed tones with a guy who was pale, with short black curly hair. He looked tall and gangly, and he seemed out of place amongst the other guests. He didn't seem to know whether or not to look Jenna in her eyes, and so his own eyes continued to dart back and forth between various places around the yard. Paige could tell he was more than a little anxious, his hands gestures becoming more erratic as he spoke. As soon as their conversation was over, he darted away quickly to the other side of the yard where some of the other guests had gathered. It was such a strange party, Paige thought. No one was really doing anything, just standing around talking. But they all seemed to be waiting for something.

Making her way to a corner on the porch, Paige folded her arms and leaned against the wood of the cabin. No sooner had she done this than a gust of wind, more like a short burst of air, washed over her and Jenna, the only ones standing in its path. Paige sucked in a breath of air, nearly choking at the sight before her. Small world indeed.

"Where is she?" Emily spat. She was 5 feet and 7 inches of pure rage, her anger emanating from her in waves. Paige had never seen anything so wild, scary and _sexy_ before. Still lingering in the shadows, Paige watched from her side of the porch. Tearing her eyes away from Emily, she swept her gaze across the yard taking in the other party goers. Most seemed completely unbothered by Emily's intrusion, talking and drinking; others looked confused; but there were a couple of people, Paige noticed, who seemed to be watching Emily carefully. Taking note of this, Paige turned her attention back to the unexpected guest.

"Emily, right?" Jenna asked in an even voice. Her tone suggested she knew exactly who she was talking to. Next to her, Noel—who seemingly appeared out of nowhere—crossed his arms. Both he and Jenna exuded a calm, collected presence that only seemed to rattle Emily even more.

"You know who is talking to you, Jenna!" Emily seethed, practically stamping her foot in frustration. Paige could see that she was trembling, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Easy there, _killer_," Noel said. It happened in a few seconds. Paige saw Emily's eyes flash dangerously—watched her shift her weight back—and right before Emily could launch herself forward, Paige had cleared the porch to wrap her arms wrapped around the other's torso, pulling her back. Surprisingly, it took all Paige had to keep Emily from moving any closer to the couple. From over Emily's shoulder she glanced at Jenna, whom Noel had moved behind him to put himself in between her and Emily. She wasn't surprised to see Jenna smirking.

"Spencer!" Emily yelled, fighting to get away from Paige, "let me go!" _Spencer!? _Paige thought as she tightened her grip on the flailing girl. _Hastings?!_

"Emily!? Hey, get off of her!"

Suddenly Paige had three sets of (_extremely cold_) hands on her pulling her away from Emily. Fortunately, she still had a firm grip on Emily so that they were both pulled back together. Unfortunately, both girls were pulled back with such force that they landed on the ground—Emily in Paige's lap.

"Ah look. The gang's all here." Jenna walked forward, past her bodyguard. She stood in front of the girls—Paige and Emily on the ground—Spencer, Hanna and Aria who stood up around them. Still unable to see past her rage, Emily fought Paige to stand up but Paige wouldn't let her go.

"Emily, please. This isn't helping," Spencer said to her, as she walked towards Jenna. Emily clenched her jaw, but she allowed herself to relax in Paige's lap. Both Hanna and Aria were watching Jenna now that Emily seemed to be out of danger. As for Paige, she loosened her grip somewhat but still kept a hold of Emily. She didn't want anything to happen to her and even though she didn't care too much what happened to Jenna and Noel, she didn't think she could let Emily _kill_ them. She allowed herself just a moment of happiness, having Emily so close to her again. Even though she was in her lap, Paige wanted to pull her in closer; her senses seemed to be overreacting as she inhaled the sweet scent that was Emily—and as ridiculous as it sounded, Paige wanted to _nuzzle_ into Emily's back. _How weird is that?_ She could feel her beneath her grip…_but she was so cold_…

"What are you doing here, Jenna?" Spencer asked sharply, glancing from her to Noel. Noel had crossed his arms again, obviously sensing that the danger had passed. Jenna, for her part, seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

"This is my welcome back party. We were all having fun until Alison's _pit bull_ decided to barge in and attack me," Jenna said in a cool tone, inclining her head towards Emily as she spoke. Emily's nostrils flared and she bared her teeth in response. Paige tightened her grip.

"We're a little on edge here. Alison is missing," Spencer said, her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued, "but I gather you already knew that."

This time it was Noel's turn to bare his teeth and Paige could've sworn he hissed slightly at Spencer. Jenna turned her head slightly and Noel stopped.

"I'm not really sure what you mean, Spencer. Now, if you ladies are done here maybe you should leave."

"You know she's lying Spencer!" Emily snarled from Paige's lap. She didn't make a move to get up, but her body was tensed up, prepared to strike. Spencer's eyes darted towards Paige for a second, seeing that Emily was secured. She turned her attention to Emily, her eyes softening slightly.

"Emily, this isn't the time. We need to go." Spencer nodded towards Hanna and Aria, and the two girls moved to help Emily get up.

"Thanks for the wonderful visit. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon," Jenna said flippantly, turning on the spot to head towards the cabin. After a moment of watching them, Noel turned to follow.

"You can count on that," Emily said as she stood up. She glared at Jenna, her eyes following her until she reached the door.

"I think you ladies can show yourselves out," Noel threw over his shoulder, before following Jenna inside.

Hanna rolled her eyes, turning to Emily. "Tell me you at least you got a punch in," the blonde haired girl said, pulling her up to her feet. In spite of her anger, Emily could feel herself smiling.

"I almost did but I was stopped…" Emily's eyebrows quirked and she turned towards Spencer. "You grabbed me, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't." But Spencer wasn't looking at Emily, she was looking behind her. Turning around, Emily looked at the girl that was sitting on the ground. Long mahogany colored hair framed her face, her dark brown eyes trained on her own. Something about her tugged at Emily's memory. She knew this girl was familiar in some way…

"…Paige?" she questioned softly.

"_McCullers_?" Spencer spat, her outburst startling Emily out her reverie.

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**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**As always, thanks for reading, please review and let me know if you have any questions! I know it's a bit slow right now, but I promise some more Paily centric chapters are coming soon!**

**Michelle: I'm so sorry if I've confused you! Of course I have it a certain way in my head and I don't know how well I can convey that to you all. Just let me know if I can help with anything! Do like a "the story so far" segment or something :)**

**glorymania: Thanks a bunch!**

**Sazar: Glad you enjoyed it!**

**Jamscottroc54: I agree! Hanna shouldn't have all the fun, slapping Jenna in the show right?!**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 5**

"…Paige?" she questioned softly.

"_McCullers_?" Spencer spat, her outburst startling Emily out her reverie.

Pulling her gaze (very reluctantly) from Emily's, Paige turned to look at Spencer. Matching Spencer's glare with one of her own, Paige gave her a small nod in acknowledgement.

"Hastings," she replied curtly. She stood up and dusted herself off, maintaining eye contact. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see the smaller girl, Aria, move closer to Spencer. With Hanna still close to Emily, it looked like they were in a defensive position. Splaying her hands out wide, Paige gestured to the group that she meant them no harm.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Spencer demanded, disregarding Paige's display of neutrality. At her left side, Aria spoke up.

"Spence, we should go somewhere else. There are too many people listening in on us," she said, her head inclined towards the handful of guests who were doing their best to act like they weren't eavesdropping. Paige looked at them, seeing the pale boy with curly hair looking at the group with unreserved longing, not even trying to act like he was interested in the people around him. It looked like the object of his affection was Hanna, whom Paige could see was not even paying attention.

Emily was looking at Paige as if she couldn't quite believe she was there.

"Aria is right, we should go somewhere. Paige?" Emily said softly, and the wolf looked at her, "would you mind coming with us to talk?"

"Uh sure," Paige replied, shoving her hands in her pockets. "I've got nothing going on anyway."

Emily smiled, causing Paige to duck her head. Spencer, still glaring at Paige, turned and walked out of the gate with Aria beside her. Emily and Hanna followed, with Paige bringing up the rear. Looking over her shoulder, back to the cabin, she saw Jenna and Noel standing at the window watching. At least, Noel was watching but Paige knew that Jenna was aware of what was going on.

"Spence, who is that?" Aria asked quietly as they walked through the surrounding forest. She could tell that Spencer was rattled by the girl's appearance, even if she was trying to act like she wasn't.

"That's Paige McCullers. I'm not surprised you don't know her," Spencer answered, continuing her steady pace. "She went to the same middle school as us."

"_Middle school_?" Aria said in disbelief. "You're kidding!"

"No I'm not, which makes this all the more weird," Spencer said darkly. Behind them, Hanna was having a very one-sided conversation with Emily.

"What a lame party huh? It's a wonder why we all used to be so excited about getting an invite. They have definitely gone down-hill," Hanna chatted, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Emily was lost in her thoughts, nodding along with whatever Hanna was talking about. It was strange, waking up to Alison's absence but more than that, they could all feel that somehow it was more than just her having run off again. Emily had been completely wrapped up in finding Alison since they awoke that little else could distract her from her task. But now, she found herself utterly distracted by the arrival of someone she hadn't seen or thought of in years. She remembered Paige from when they were in middle school, always competing against each other to be the best on the swim team. Emily had practically no friends outside of Alison and their group, but in Paige she formed a kind of rivalry-slash-teammate camaraderie that tended to be made up of equal parts friendly exchanges and competitive arguments. She admired the other girl in a different way than she admired her own friends, and she saw Paige and swimming as an escape of sorts looking forward to both at the end of the school day. She stole a glance at the girl behind them, seeing that she was looking down as they walked. Turning to look ahead she started frowning, biting her lip. Hanna paused in her conversation, looking questioning at her friend.

"Em? What is it?" she asked. She didn't really know who the girl, Paige, was but she could see that her appearance affected Spencer and Emily in different ways. Of course she could count on Spencer to completely overreact, but she couldn't quite place what Emily was going through. She turned to look at the girl, wondering what it was about her that her friends had become so worked up about. If nothing else, they should be thanking Paige, she thought. Emily could have easily gotten herself into trouble, or done something she would've regretted later. Paige looked up, catching her gaze. Hanna smiled softly, noting that she had really pretty eyes. She looked back at Emily.

"Did you guys know each other from somewhere, before?" Hanna asked curiously. Maybe she could get Emily to open up about the mahogany haired girl.

"Something like that," Emily murmured, still somewhat distracted by her thoughts. Struck by a thought, Hanna leaned in closer to Emily.

"Is this, like, a gay thing?" she whispered. Emily's eyes became wide with disbelief and behind them, it sounded like Paige had tripped over something.

"Are you ok?" Hanna said, looking back at Paige. Paige, who seemed to be very interested in her shoes, just threw up a hand and nodded. Satisfied, Hanna looked at Emily, waiting for an answer. With Paige ducking her head, Hanna missed the blush that had spread all over her face upon hearing the word "gay". For her part, Emily was slightly mortified that Hanna had said such a thing, not expecting it at the moment. Leave it to Hanna to say things completely out of the ordinary.

"No!" Emily hissed, causing Hanna to shrug indifferently. She didn't even chance a glance at the girl behind them. "You shouldn't say things like that."

"Why not? You're cool with being gay and so am I," she said, quickly adding, "cool with your being gay, of course. We all are." Emily snorted, shaking her head at her best friend. Hanna just smiled and looped her arm with Emily's.

For someone who had tried to remain invisible for the last couple of years, Paige was quite uncomfortable with the level of attention she had been receiving for the last couple of nights. Thinking about Emily's appearance earlier, it sounded like she didn't have to worry much about Alison anymore. From the way Emily had reacted to her disappearance, Alison seemed to be either gone for good or…dead? Paige chuckled darkly_. I doubt that girl will ever die_, she thought bitterly. She wasn't the kind of person to wish ill will on anyone, but she could always make an exception for Alison.

Obviously she could hear all the mini conversations the girls were having, although she was content with them not knowing that she could. Spencer was on edge about her that was sure. She didn't really know the other one, Aria, but of course she remembered them all together in school. If she remembered correctly, Aria tended to stick to Spencer a lot of the time while Hanna and Emily seemed to be close. Hanna had always struck her as funny, as she seemed to lack that certain something that filtered thoughts to speech. She was always saying whatever popped into her mind. Paige remembered hearing her a lot more than the others. _And Emily_…just thinking about her was causing Paige's heart to speed up. Not only did she have a moment holding her (_ok, stop being creepy!_), but Emily at least seemed to remember her if even just a little bit. Despite her situation—trudging behind a group of girls in the dark, in the forest—Paige smiled. At least she had the satisfaction of knowing she had made an impression with Emily. As Paige indulged in her small victory, she almost stumbled in front of the girls in front of her as they came to a stop.

Looking around, Paige could see they were almost near the lake. She wondered if she should say something about the night before, but she figured she should wait to see how things played out. She watched the girls organize themselves and Paige could swear she was back in the hallways of their old school. Minus Alison, the girls gathered in a familiar pattern—Spencer, who was generally second-in-command, seemed to now be the de facto leader; Emily was at her right, the space between them just wide enough for a certain someone; to the left of Spencer was Aria, the smallest; to the right of Emily was Hanna. They formed a semi-circle around Paige, with Spencer moving to stand in front of Paige with her arms crossed.

"Are we gonna have a rumble?" Paige asked sarcastically. She took just the slightest pleasure in the way Spencer gritted her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Hanna covering up a smile.

"Look, McCullers. We're calling the shots here. And if you think you could handle a rumble, it's your move," Spencer replied scathingly.

"Yeah, Paige…er, I mean, McCullers! If you're feeling froggy, leap!" Hanna chimed in, shaking her fist for good measure. Spencer whipped her head towards her, glaring. Emily bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"What? Isn't this the making-threats-til-she-gives-us-what-we-want part?!" Hanna said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"Yeah, Han, I don't think that was very threatening. Sure, you might've scared away a squirrel or two…," Aria mused. Beside her, it looked like Spencer was about to fly into a rage. Moving closer so that she was face to face with Paige, she opened her mouth to speak but instead wrinkled her nose and took a step back.

"Ugh! Emily how could you think she was me? She smells awful," Spencer said.

"Excuse me!" Paige barked, incredulous, "I do not smell bad!" The conversation, if a bit one-sided, had turned in a direction Paige had never considered. Resisting the small urge to lift her arm and sniff, she growled at Spencer for her comment. _She most definitely did not stink! _

"Uhm, Spence? Maybe we should take it down a notch," Emily recommended, looking at Paige. She stared into the other girl's brown eyes, the intensity of her dark sepia irises anchoring her. It took Emily a few seconds to pull herself away from Paige's concentrated gaze, noticing the slight pink tint that had set in the girl's cheeks, her face flushed from Spencer's remark. Her ears picked up the subtle increase in the other girl's heartbeat. _Heartbeat_…Emily licked her lips, realizing that she hadn't eaten since she woke up. She looked at Paige again, noticing how her cheeks had flushed even more under Emily's scrutiny…watched the small throbbing of her pulse point on her neck as it seemed to pulsate faster…and she smelled absolutely _delicious_…without warning, Emily bared her teeth with her fangs extended and she took a step towards Paige.

"Em? I think that's the opposite of what you just suggested…" But Emily only heard Hanna vaguely, her attention still set on Paige. It wasn't until Hanna yanked her arm that Emily came to.

"Looks like Emily doesn't think Paige stinks," Hanna smirked. Meanwhile, the look on Paige's face was sheer astonishment. Not even listening to what Hanna had said, she took a step back her eyes wide.

"You…you're a…" Paige began, her lack of clarity causing Spencer to grin widely. Emily had covered her mouth in embarrassment, waiting for her fangs to retract. She was always in control of herself but with all the excitement since the girls woke up, she hadn't felt like she was in control of anything anymore. The fact that she wanted Paige, _wanted to taste her_, confused her above all else. Now she was worried that she had completely freaked Paige out and _why the hell should she care about that?_

"Vampire, huh?" Paige practically deadpanned. _So that's why Alison could move so fast…and why she and Emily were so cold_, Paige mused silently. Spencer's face fell, somewhat comically at the lack of surprise in Paige's conclusion. Thinking they had the upper-hand, Spencer was disappointed at how well Paige seemed to take this information. But that only added to her suspicions, that Paige knew a lot more than she was letting on. Plus, the fact that she was even here at all…

"Ok, look. I know it must seem odd, that we're here. I never expected to run into you four ever again, in my entire life," Paige said, looking at each of the girls. Her eyes lingered on Emily, who was still covering her mouth, before she started again. "I can promise you that I'm not here to cause any of you harm. This is just a coincidence."

"This kind of coincidence generally starts out planned," Aria said, backing Spencer up. "You have to admit, there is a little too much going on here for us to chalk this up to merely a coincidence." Aria watched Paige cautiously, but not unkindly whereas Spencer seemed to be the only one of them who looked like she might attack her at any moment. Before Paige could respond to Aria, a rustling noise made its way towards them and each girl turned quickly in its direction. Already on edge, Spencer was quick to act but not as quickly as Paige. Having caught a gleam of eyes amongst the shrubbery and trees, Paige had thrown herself towards their mystery guest, her shirt already pulled over her head.

"WHY IS SHE GETTING NAKED?!" Spencer roared, as she ran after her. The other three girls followed, Emily's eyes never leaving Paige. After she shed her last piece of clothing, Paige morphed into her wolf form and bounded through the dark forest. Emily's eyes widened, watching the wolf that had just been a naked Paige.

"Did you see that?" Hanna shrieked. "She's a friggin' werewolf!"

"No…no way…" Emily whispered to herself as all of the girls ran through the forest.

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**Questions, comments, concerns? :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hellloooo! I apologize for the (long) delay. It's end of the semester...finals, grades and papers are due next week and I am insanely busy. Thanks so much for your reviews, I apologize again for not addressing them separately but I wanted to get this chapter up asap. I'm so glad that you all liked the last chapter, it was definitely my favorite to write! I'm trying to get through this next chapter or two to focus more on Paily, promise! Thanks again for reading and reviewing and for your patience. If anyone else is dealing with finals, good luck!**

* * *

Point of No Return

Chapter 6

Tearing through the underbrush of the forest, Paige pursued whatever had been watching them. The scent she picked me up from the creature was very familiar and she had a feeling she knew who it was. Whatever_ it_ was, however, was difficult to discern as its sleek form gave little in the way of its identity. Behind her, she could hear the girls even though they barely made a sound as they ran. The sounds she picked up from them were from the way they cut through the wind.

Having been caught up in the tension of the girls' interrogation, if it could even be called that, Paige welcomed this new intrusion as it allowed her to give in fully to her instincts. She didn't have to worry about keeping herself in check as she put her all into the chase. Steadily gaining on her prey, she let out an excited bark at the prospect of sinking her teeth into her prize. She could see that she had startled the mysterious creature somewhat and as it leapt to the trunk of a tree, Paige launched herself towards an adjacent tree using it to catapult her towards it before it could claw its way up. _Not so fast_, the wolf thought excitedly as she clamped her mouth on its tail and giving it a yank. Letting out an awful screech, the creature lost its grip and fell down on top of Paige furiously trying to claw its way out of Paige's grip. But the wolf placed its paws on the creature's belly and quickly clamped her jaws on its neck, putting enough pressure around it to hinder the creature's breathing somewhat. Breathing heavily, the creature stopped moving as it glared off in the distance unable to move its head.

"Looks like she caught a rat," Hanna said as the girls arrived on the scene.

"Looks more like a cat," Spencer corrected and Paige growled her assent. In fact, it was a panther; a panther whose color was such a dark, intense purple it looked black. Even now it looked like it could be just another shadow in the forest, if not for the wolf holding it down and the slight glint of moonlight on its fur. It hissed at the girls, baring its teeth before it was quickly cut off when the wolf applied slightly more pressure to its neck. Glaring at the girls with pure contempt, the panther watched as Aria walked towards it and bent down to examine it.

"It's Noel," Aria uttered. The panther continued to glare at Aria, with even more loathing if it was possible. Spencer leaned over and grabbed Noel by the scruff of his neck.

"You can let go now, McCullers," she stated, looking Paige in the eye. But Paige didn't want to let go. It was her prey; she gave chase, she caught him and now he was hers. With a snarl, Paige indicated that she was not about to back down. It was not in her nature to back down. Especially to a vampire. Confused, Spencer turned to the others.

"What is she doing? Can she even understand me?" Spencer asked, puzzled. Paige let out a frustrated growl. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?!" Spencer sputtered indignantly, as the wolf continued to give her an annoyed look.

"Spence?" Aria began, trying and failing to get Spencer's attention as it looked like her and Paige had entered a glaring contest, "Maybe you should let go…after all, she caught him." Spencer whipped her head around to stare at her in disbelief.

"What?! No way! Besides, you're supposed to be on my side," Spencer finished with a pout. Aria lifted an eyebrow in amusement.

"I think she's right. It's kind of like when a dog fetches a toy, right? You generally have to wrestle it away from them…if they're not trained of course," Hanna said, earning another growl from Paige.

"Guys? How about we don't refer to Paige as if she's just a dog, ok?" Emily stated. Without meaning to, the wolf's tail wagged slightly as Emily spoke. Making sure to keep eye contact with Paige, Emily crouched down on the ground.

"Paige? It would be easier if you were human again, so that we could all talk to Noel. Here, I have your clothes," Emily said, brandishing Paige's clothing, "if you could let Spencer grab him, you could change and come back." Looking from Noel to Emily, Paige considered her options. Emily's reasoning was sound, but the wolf part of her was reluctant to relinquish the claim on its prize. Letting go of Noel, the wolf looked at Emily expectantly. Emily smiled, causing the wolf to wag its tail happily, and offered the bundle of clothes to Paige. Clamping down on the bundle of clothes with her mouth, Paige trotted off behind the trees to change.

"Woah, check out Emily the dog whisperer," Hanna teased. Emily rolled her eyes at her and stood up, looking towards the area Paige had disappeared to.

"Do you think we could teach her commands? Oh my god, I know the perfect leash we could get for her!" Hanna continued, stopping when Emily glared at her.

"Maybe you could teach her not to drool so much," Spencer muttered, looking at the wet fur of the panther's neck. At least it looked like Noel agreed with her on that.

Changing quickly (both human and clothed), Paige's thoughts were running rampant in her head. Had Jenna sent Noel to spy on her or the girls? What were the girls going to do to Noel? Had Emily seen that she had caught him? She could feel her skin thrumming, the excitement of the night causing her to tremble. It didn't help that she could smell Emily _all over her_, making her think of scenarios that were causing her to blush. She wanted to be back in her wolf form, as she felt like she could control her emotions better that way but she knew the girls were waiting for her to come back out as a human. _I can do this, I can do this_, she thought nervously patting her hair down and tucking loose strands behind her ears.

Paige returned to the sight of Spencer holding up the werepanther at arm's length, by the scruff of its neck. Considering the size of the panther, about 7 feet from nose to tail, Paige was impressed especially since Spencer didn't seem to be straining in the least bit. If Noel looked angry before, it was nothing like the look of pure hatred he was giving to the girls now having been humiliated by not only being caught but being held up like he was a kitten. His eyes locked onto Paige's, yellow eyes narrowing in contempt which earned a smirk from the wolf.

"Neat huh? Grabbing cats by the scruff of their neck is like a natural off button. It's instinct," Spencer said as Paige walked up. At least this part of Spencer she remembered; if ever there was an opportunity to show off her vast knowledge, Spencer always took it.

"Oh neat! Can I try?" Hanna practically squealed, as she bounded over. Aria grabbed her arm, however, before she made it too far.

"Han, please. There are plenty of feral cats that are not shifters running around here waiting for you to grab them," Aria pointed out a bit impatiently. "Should we not ask him to turn back?"

"Won't he be…naked?" Emily asked uncertainly. She looked at Paige, thankful she couldn't blush, as she thought to when she shifted earlier. Emily had to admit a half-naked Paige was quite a pleasant site…too bad she become a wolf right before it was getting real good. At this point Paige looked over at Emily, a little surprised to see she was being watched. Paige glanced quickly away, flustered at the sight of Emily biting her lip.

"A naked Noel, huh? Bring back some memories, Aria?" Hanna teased as she elbowed Aria playfully, to which both Aria and Noel seemed to react to at the same time and in the same way (baring fangs and hissing).

"Guys, calm down," Spencer said, looking at Hanna and Aria (and shaking Noel). "And I'm with Emily. I'm not up to seeing a naked Noel," she added, mildly disgusted at the thought.

"Because of Toby, right?" Hanna asked with a wink. Spencer rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Toby?" Paige asked, easily falling into conversation with the blonde. She could tell that Hanna was easy to get along with and Paige was starting to like not only their interactions, but how the blonde interacted with the others.

"Yeah, he's totally her Angel," Hanna explained matter-of-factly.

"Angel? As in 'guardian'?" Paige asked, slightly confused. Although she wouldn't be surprised if there were angels running around. Or flying. Or whatever it is angels did.

"No, as in 'Buffy'," Hanna replied. "You know, dark, mysterious and brooding? Always in black."

"She's kind of into Sci-fi right now," Emily added, having walked over to Paige's side. She smiled at Paige, grinning when Paige smiled and ducked her head. Emily was really starting to enjoy teasing Paige, considering how expressive Paige was around her. It was a nice change.

"Hello! Holding a full grown panther here!" Spencer yelled, again shaking Noel to emphasize her point. "And could we please stop spilling our guts to McCullers! We don't know where she fits in all this!"

"Look, he came here to spy on us. That Jenna girl wants me to get close to you all," Paige informed the girls. "She told me it was important which side I chose to be on, whatever that means. I don't know what's going on, but I know that I don't want to be her lapdog," Paige spat.

"You're being here is…odd. And at this point in time…" Aria said quietly, sharing a look with Spencer. Paige was sure these girls had silent exchanges of conversation often, so she tried not to think too much about it. Silence was somewhat better than all the double talk she had to endure.

"Just let him go. He will tell Jenna what happened and where I stand," Paige said.

"And where do you stand?" Spencer asked, dropping Noel without warning. With a loud thud, the panther landed unceremoniously on his backside. Before making his way back to the cabin, he looked at Paige for an answer to the question.

"Not with Jenna," Paige answered, looking directly at Noel. Baring his teeth once again, Noel made a swift exit quickly leaping out of sight.


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry for taking so long! It's kind of a short chapter, I know. Hopefully it doesn't seem like it's dragging...I'm trying to wrap up this night so we can move onto bigger and better things (aka more paily). Plus, I want to get more into the supernatural-y stuff. As always, please hit me up with any questions/comments/concerns! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 7**

"Are you ok?" Emily asked Paige, quietly. Emily could see that Paige was trembling, possibly in anger over what had just happened with Noel. She was fascinated by how expressive Paige could be, the girl practically wore her heart on her sleeve. From what she remembered, Paige always seemed to be angry…angry at the world, she supposed. Except when they were together. Even when they were competing, she could see that Paige's arguments and sarcastic remarks didn't quite hold that same bite. It was one of the reasons why Emily had liked her so much…too much, really. According to Alison.

Paige nodded at Emily, giving her a small smile, indicating that she was alright. She turned her attention to the others, who were still looking at where Noel had disappeared.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked, addressing Spencer. Paige was quite certain that she didn't need to worry about the girls trying to jump her now. Minus Spencer of course. But she was pretty sure she could handle her.

"Looks like Paige is one of the good guys," Hanna said, "so we don't need to be rumblin' with her over turf or pinks or whatever." She looked at Emily for confirmation, missing how Aria mouthed "pinks?" in confusion and Spencer's look of utter disbelief.

"Yeah, Hanna's right...I mean, we don't need to fight with Paige and we should probably leave her alone now," Emily added, missing the pained look on the wolf's face. It was gone just as quickly as it appeared, but while Emily didn't catch it, Spencer did. She managed to pick up on the subtle looks Emily and Paige were throwing at each other and although she continued to remain suspicious of Paige, she thought that maybe Paige's interest in Emily could be used to their advantage. If nothing else, at least Emily would be safe.

"You know we can't just leave McCullers alone now," Spencer proclaimed and as she did, she could have sworn she saw both Emily and Paige smile a bit. "But we do need to leave for now. Jenna is already making her move, probably already has been before…tonight."

"You mean, before Alison…?" Aria began, but before she could finish each girl was visited by the same pain they had felt earlier. All the excitement of the night acted like a stimulant, allowing them to avoid the pain that nearly crippled them upon waking up to the absence of their leader. Watching the girls nearly doubled over in pain, Paige wondered just what kind of hold Alison had had over her posse. She quickly turned to Emily, who looked as if she was trying to tear her heart out in agony. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around the other girl crashing their bodies together.

They fit perfectly. And as much as Paige had dreamt of holding Emily like this, it was nothing to what it actually felt like. She gripped Emily tightly, one arm across her lower back and the other at her shoulder blades. Emily was only aware of the pain, the never-ending cold, until she was nearly overwhelmed with heat. It was like lava, molding to her stone-like body and she could feel it rushing all over her body—surging along her skin, melting into her bones and making her feel _alive_. Emily grasped at this new lifeline, her pain disappearing as she sought to drown herself in this new sensation. Just as she seemed to locate the source of the magnificent heat, she was pulled away roughly. Dazed, confused, and somewhat annoyed that she was abruptly disconnected from that heat, Emily pulled away from the hands that grabbed her. The first thing she saw was Paige on the ground with her hand to her neck looking quite dazed as well.

"Emily Fields! You almost bit her!" Hanna shrieked as she latched onto Emily again. Emily watched Aria bend down towards Paige, helping her up. Shaking Hanna off of her, she approached Paige cautiously.

"Paige, I am so sorry. I didn't know…what happened?" Emily asked, searching the other girl's face intently for any sign of discomfort and noting that Paige kept avoiding eye contact with her. Emily's gaze flickered continuously between the other girl's face and neck, which Paige was still holding. She couldn't see any blood, nor did she taste any. Thinking about tasting Paige…this probably wasn't the best time for it. Behind her stood Spencer and Hanna, who were both watching Emily carefully. Spencer had never seen Emily lose control like this before.

Still slightly dazed, Paige pulled her hand from her neck and looked to see if she was bleeding. She remembered hugging Emily and then feeling a sharp prick on her neck before landing on the ground. How many times was she going to fall on her butt tonight?

"It's ok. Just a scratch," Paige shrugged, craning her neck for the others to see. There were two small drops of blood, with the imprint of Emily's top front teeth in between. "Don't worry about it, Emily. I grabbed you without thinking…I'm sure you didn't know what was happening," she said slightly guilty, finally looking at Emily. Paige looked as if she was expecting to be admonished, either by Emily or the other girls, for getting all handsy. And quite honestly, she was still reeling from the Emily overload. Looking back and forth from Emily to Paige, Spencer knew that they needed to leave. None of the girls had fed, which was never good for younger vampires especially this long after waking. Even taking this into consideration, Spencer still found it odd that Emily found Paige so appealing. She reeked of wet dog, Spencer thought as her nose wrinkled in remembrance of earlier, and she was a werewolf. A real werewolf. Vampires and werewolves tended to end up on opposite sides of the field and here was Emily practically invading enemy territory. And yet Spencer couldn't help but feel happy for Emily, who seemed to follow Alison like a lovesick puppy.

"McCullers, we need to go. I know things have been weird tonight…and have only gotten weirder, but I promise we will let you in on what's going on around here. It looks like you're here to stay, anyway," Spencer said, breaking the silence. "We can meet here tomorrow, at sunset, and we will fill you in." Giving Paige what appeared to be a friendly smile, but kind of looked like a forced grimace, Spencer turned to leave.

"You don't have to…" Paige began, but was cut off.

"Yes we do. You've helped us out more than once tonight and you didn't have to," Aria interjected. "We owe you some answers."

"Plus now that Emily's marked you…"

"HANNA! LEAVE!"

Winking at Paige, Hanna turned to follow Spencer but was instead dragged away by Aria leaving Emily and Paige alone.

"What did she mean by that?" Paige asked uncertainly as her hand automatically grabbed the left side of her neck. Emily shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Hanna's just been watching too much Buffy. There's a lot of things we're still learning about this world. Alison…" Emily paused, "Alison made us. She kept us in the dark about a lot of things, because she wanted to continue having power over us. So basically, Hanna has been weaving all kinds of supernatural stuff and vampire mythology into our limited knowledge base."

"Alison…made you?" Paige repeated hesitantly, "What does that mean exactly?"

Emily frowned, thinking of the best way to answer the question. Paige watched her intently, memorizing the way the other girl's mouth turned down, the way her eyes seemed to focus on some faraway object. Paige watched her for a moment longer, letting Emily stay in whatever point of time she had drifted off too.

"Emily? It's ok. You don't have to tell me anything."

"It's not that, promise," Emily stated, giving Paige that small smile, "there's just so much. And I still can't believe that you're here…I never thought I'd see you again. Ever."

Paige blushed, ducking her head. "Yeah, I thought the same. It's kind of like what Aria had said, it's almost too coincidental, huh?"

Frowning again, Emily nodded. "There's a lot we need to talk about. I will see you tomorrow, ok?"

Paige looked up, catching the difference in Emily's tone. Emily had her eyes cast down, suddenly looking like a shy teenager. It was an image Paige would never forget, one that she had never forgotten. Paige stepped closer bending slightly to catch Emily's gaze.

"I will see you tomorrow, yes?" Paige reiterated, hating the slightly desperate tone of her voice. But Emily didn't seem to mind or notice as she nodded. Briefly considering all the touching they had done earlier, Paige was sure she was overstepping her boundaries but she didn't care as she pulled in Emily for a hug. It was probably the bravest thing she'd ever done, really. Feeling Emily return the hug made her even more confident about her decision. Before Emily let go, she placed a kiss on Paige's cheek and couldn't help the smirk that appeared after Paige blushed. Emily tried not to pay too much attention to the blood rushing to the other girl's cheeks, as she didn't need to be attacking her right now. Turning to take her leave, she waved good bye.

"Be careful, Paige McCullers," she whispered.


	9. Chapter 8

**Hola! I was kind of dragging my feet, but I figured since I waited so long to update I could get another chapter out to you guys for being so patient :) We're starting to move along here and I've introduced a new character...which I'm slightly wary about, considering we don't know much about her yet. Let me know what you think ;) Thanks for you reviews and continued support!**

**glorymania**: I really like the idea of Emily finding Paige irresistible! Hence the Emily-attacking-and-trying-to-bite-Paige bits lol. Thank you so much for your reviews! I know my chapters tend to be short...I'll work on it, promise!

**MindFullofStories**: Thanks! Yes, I'm looking to add some more McHastings interactions. I just love pitting them against each other!

**Jamscottroc54**: I know I take forever to update! I'm trying to get back into the groove (I've been on vacay too long lol).

**cici**: this is definitely the beginnings of that mark...but I promise there will be more to it ;)

**Sazar**: Thanks! I love writing Hanna, she is just too funny :)

**Paily lover**: Thank you very much!

**Michelle**: Thanks :)

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 8**

"God, Emily, you stink."

The girls were running now, the urgency of what they had forgotten earlier weighing heavily on their minds. It didn't take long for Emily to catch up to the others, taking her place at Spencer's right.

"Be quiet," Emily growled, rolling her eyes at Spencer's statement. Emily knew what she smelled like. Knew who she smelled like. In all honesty, she wanted to still be in her embrace, she could still feel the warmth she carried from her…but Emily didn't want to think about anything right now, she wanted to run. Actually, she wanted to swim. She had a feeling she knew what Spencer was going to suggest they do and if so, she was going to make sure wherever she ended up involved crossing an ocean. They continued to run in silence and it didn't take long for them to reach the house. Their house, now, Emily supposed. She wasn't too sure how that inheritance thing worked with vampires.

"Are we going to talk about the big hippo in the forest?" Hanna asked as soon as they stopped. Emily, who was just about to open the cellar door, turned around to look at her with her eyes narrowed.

"I think you mean 'elephant', Han," Aria corrected.

"No, she means 'wolf'," Spencer spat. "I can't believe she's here! How is she here?!" She looked at Emily accusingly, although rationally she knew there was no way Emily had anything to do with the wolf's sudden appearance.

"Spencer, stop. We all know Emily has nothing to do with it," Hanna asserted in a steely tone. Everything seemed to be turned completely upside down and in such a short amount of time. As much as Hanna pretended to not know, she wasn't completely stupid. She looked over at Emily who seemed to be engaged in an internal conflict, although she tried hard not to show it. It made Hanna think of the time when Emily seemed to be constantly fighting herself, while outwardly trying to appease her friends and family. Emily didn't need Spencer treating her like a threat.

"I know. I'm sorry, Em," Spencer conceded, looking at Emily apologetically. Emily had her arms wrapped around herself, her eyebrows furrowed but she nodded at Spencer in acknowledgement. "We need answers. We still have time…we can split up, check all of Allie's old hiding spots first. Aria and Hanna, stay on this side. Emily and I can take the other half. Meet back here before sunrise."

The girls all nodded in acceptance of their assignments. Before Emily could run off (and throw herself headfirst into the Atlantic), Hanna grabbed Emily.

"Hey, Em. We're here for you, ok?" Hanna said, squeezing her arm affectionately.

"Thanks Han," Emily said gratefully. Hanna smiled at her, yelled "I've got South America!" at Aria and ran off.

"She always gets South America…"Aria muttered. Giving Spencer and Emily a quick hug, Aria took off.

"Hey, and no pit stops!" Spencer yelled, to which Aria waved dismissively at her.

"You know she's going to go see him," Emily said as she watched her vanish. Spencer sighed.

"Yeah and every time she does, she comes back smelling…too much like him," Spencer frowned.

"I swear, you and smells…Jealous?" Emily teased, her annoyance with the other girl easily giving way to years of friendship. Spencer scoffed, pushing Emily playfully.

"Yeah, right. You try sleeping next to her when she reeks of fairy…it's too much," Spencer replied with a shiver.

"Is that why you always end up cuddling after she comes back from visiting him?" Emily inquired innocently.

"Do not!" Spencer exclaimed. "Besides, vampires are naturally attracted to the way the Fae smell…."

Emily nodded in mock reassurance, enjoying the small break in the tense atmosphere. But they couldn't escape it forever and she knew they needed to get a move on. Spencer felt the shift in their exchange, saw the way Emily's face changed quickly from teasing to serious.

"Em…you should be the one to talk to her tomorrow. By yourself. I think she'll open up more to you, than to all of us at once." Emily didn't give an indication that she heard Spencer, just stared straight ahead. "I'll start in Russia."

Emily watched Spencer leave, crossing her arms as she did so. She knew what needed to be done, but for once she didn't feel like doing it. It would be a fruitless endeavor, as they all knew the truth. From the first time she met Alison, Emily never thought she could ever be parted from her. At least, she never thought she would want to be parted from her. Now that it's happened, she felt relieved. All the things she wanted to be for Alison were used against her, instead becoming the leash and collar Alison kept her tethered to. Emily's love and affection, to Alison, meant control—and there was nothing Alison loved more than control. Alison kept her hanging for years and years…and it all started in middle school. With one letter. The letter Emily had written to Paige.

With a long sigh, Emily headed east. It didn't take long for her to reach the coast, where she dove head first into the raging waters. Emily cut through the powerful undercurrents easily and she enjoyed the solitude the vast ocean had to offer. _Wash it all away_…as much as she loved the numbing, muted effect the ocean had on her she couldn't help but compare it to the fiery, sultry heat that was Paige McCullers.

* * *

For someone who enjoyed her solitude, Paige was surprised to find that she missed the girls company. She missed Emily's most of all, but even the others were ok to be around. She found it incredibly easy to talk to Hanna and enjoyed the blunt way she had of expressing herself. Aria could always be counted on to call the others on their crap and Spencer's competitive nature coupled with her desire to always be right meant Paige could be expected to both challenge her and be challenged by her.

She was just kind of…standing there. Emily's scent lingered on and around her, the kiss she placed on Paige's cheek still cool to the touch. Feeling quite stupid, Paige decided to start walking so at least she would be doing something. She judged it to be at least 3 hours since she showed up at Noel's cabin and decided to head back over. Her stuff was still there, after all.

Retracing hers and the girls' steps back to the cabin, Paige thought about all that happened tonight. She tried to piece everything together, at least all the pieces she had been given. There seemed to be a war of sorts….maybe even a rumble, she chuckled thinking back to Hanna's words earlier. Jenna had mentioned that there were different sides, factions. So far, she could see that Jenna and Noel were not fans of the girls…and the feeling was definitely mutual. She wondered if the other party goers were in the know; were they on different sides? Their own faction? Completely oblivious? There were some people that stood out…the girl with long dark hair, honey-brown eyes and perfectly shaped eyebrows who made it a point to smile and make eye contact with her more than once. The boy with shoulder length hair that was talking with Noel. And then there was the pale, skinny guy with short curly black hair who looked at Hanna like she was nothing short of perfect. Jenna had mentioned that since she was new, Paige could expect to be recruited. Supernatural wars…what the hell had she gotten herself into?

And yet…she felt like this was where she belonged. Not only was she around people, but they were like her…at least, they were more like her than regular humans. She was pretty sure at least 2 of the people she had encountered since she arrived liked her (maybe 3 if she counted Aria). Not only that, but there was something for her to do. She didn't have to wonder aimlessly around the woods, hunting and foraging for food. Here she could help out the girls, help out Emily. Find some answers out on her own.

Paige arrived at the cabin, seeing that Jenna's "Welcome Back" party was still in full swing. There were people all over the yard, some in groups, talking and drinking. She didn't see Jenna or Noel, but she decided to walk inside and grab her stuff anyway. There was a girl standing on the front porch, drinking out of a red cup who seemed to take an interest in Paige as she walked by. Sniffing the air as she passed, the girl tapped Paige on the shoulder before she opened the door.

"Hey. Did you know you smell like vampires?" the girl asked, taking a big gulp of her drink. Paige bristled upon the girl touching her, still somewhat sensitive about how she smelled. _First Hastings, now this girl_ she thought darkly. _Why was everyone going on about the way she smelled?_

"Yeah, so?" Paige said defensively. She hadn't quite turned from the door, but she looked over her shoulder at the girl. She was a couple inches shorter than Paige and she was giving Paige the once-over, looking her up and down and raising an eyebrow in apparent approval.

"Woah, slow your roll. I was just making an observation," she said nonchalantly, taking another sip of her drink. Slowly, Paige turned to face the girl. She sniffed the air around her, catching onto the scent she was beginning to identify as belonging to people like her and Noel. This girl smelled slightly different and it was more appealing than Noel's, for sure. In fact, the girl smelled really good. _And she was very pretty, too,_ Paige admitted to herself. It was kind of dark, but she could see that her skin was darker than Emily's, her hair too. Where Emily's eyes were a liquid amber, this girl's was a deep russet. Seemingly pleased with the attention she was receiving from Paige, the girl smiled mischievously at her.

"So what do you change into?" the girl asked. Paige was somewhat taken aback, but she recovered quickly.

"How do you know?" Paige asked her.

"Oh please, don't act like you didn't just sniff me," the girl remarked playfully. "You know, I know, I just can't tell what kind of animal you turn into. Of course, you could just show me if you want. Show me yours and I'll show you mine," she added with a wink. Paige flushed at her suggestive tone.

"I don't think that's appropriate…" Paige started to say, to which the girl giggled.

"Well you're definitely not a werewolf, if that makes you blush," the girl concluded. Paige's eyes widened in shock. "Are…you a werewolf? I was just making a joke…you don't really smell like one," she said, backtracking. She gave Paige a concerned look.

"No, it's fine. I'm just…I'm kind of new here," Paige finally said. _How was it that everyone seemed to know more about herself than she did?_ The girl nodded.

"I could tell. I haven't seen you around here before…and I would definitely remember seeing you," she said flirtatiously. Paige had to smile at that, causing the other girl to grin.

"Well I'm a supe, like you. Wanna grab a drink? I'm kind of running low," she said, showing her almost-empty-cup as proof. Paige was finding that this girl was easy to talk to, kind of like with Hanna. There were things about her that reminded her of Emily, but she seemed more open and laid back.

"Ah. I don't know if I can do that. I was actually just about to grab my stuff and go. The thing is…I kind of got into an altercation with Noel earlier…" Paige began, smirking at the memory of taking down the werepanther.

"Oh my…that was because of you?! I've never seen Noel with his tail tucked between his legs before! I thought that was only a dog thing!" the other girl said, covering her mouth as she tried not to laugh to loud.

"Really now?" Paige asked, trying not to sound too full of herself.

"Yeah. Plus, his fur was sticking up at odd angles because he was covered in slobber," the girl divulged. Paige smiled wider, picturing the site of Noel showing up to his cabin in such a state of disarray. "Now if you could do that to Noel…I'm really impressed. What's your name, anyway?"

"Well I don't see the harm in telling you…my name is Paige," the wolf said. "And you?"

The other girl smiled. "My name is Shana. So how about that drink?"


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's been a while! Seriously, I have been ridiculously busy. Like, too busy. Anyway, I know some of you want nothing to do with Shana (or has that changed any since Tuesday's ep...?), but I decided to include her. But why? I think it's cool to have someone interested in Paige. So far this chapter has her for expository reasons, because she is filling Paige in on a lot of stuff. Please, please, please tell me what you think of her and her role in this story. I'm always open to ideas for character developments. Slowly making our way to the good stuff, promise! (AKA more paily). Thanks for your patience!**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 9**

"She totally knows you're here, by the way," Shana said nonchalantly to Paige as they walked to the backyard.

"Is that so?" Paige asked. She kind of had a feeling that Jenna was an all-knowing kind of girl, but as far as _what_ she was…Paige was not up to this supernatural-themed-_guess-who_-game.

"Oh definitely. Jenna is pretty much a seer. She's blind, yeah, but she's has amazing perception and has a knack for knowing what's going to happen," Shana stated conversationally. "Plus, you know, 'women's intuition' and all that stuff." Paige could tell this girl was completely in her element. She knew exactly who she was and the world she was living in.

"So this party…is everyone something?" Paige inquired.

"Something? Girl, how far removed are you?" Shana asked in surprise. Paige didn't answer, just cast her eyes down. "Wow. You really don't know," the other girl whispered, causing Paige to look up in surprise. "I just meant," Shana clarified, speaking louder, "your being at this party, and being a Supe, is kind of a big deal. If you're rolling with vamps, then you should probably already know." Paige stared straight ahead, thinking about Shana's words. _Rolling with vamps?_ The girls were on the side of the house, walking through the shadows. As they stepped into the light, Shana gasped, causing Paige to tense up as she prepared to defend herself. When nothing happened, Paige turned to the other girl who was looking at Paige with a horrified expression. Not understanding what was going on, Paige cocked her head to the side in puzzlement.

"What…?"

"You've been bitten?" Shana said hurriedly in a hushed tone, looking frantically from side to side before staring at Paige's neck. Still not understanding, Paige reached up to feel the left side of her neck. Sure, Emily had nicked her a bit…if it could even be called that. She barely even drew blood. But as Paige touched the area Emily's teeth had grazed, she felt two small bumps. It didn't make sense that there would be a mark. Paige healed at an incredible rate and while the bigger gashes tended to leave the faintest of scars, the smallest cuts and scrapes never left a mark. What was even more weird was the fact that these bumps felt cooler than her normal body temperature.

"I wasn't bitten," Paige refuted, "It was an accident." This Shana girl really needed tone it down. No one was looking at them, as far as Paige could tell, but the small hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, as she felt they were being watched nonetheless.

"An accident? How does that accidentally happen? Did you get attacked?" Shana persisted, somewhat to Paige's annoyance. She got that the girl probably felt a kinship or something with her, what with the both of them being supes…but why was she being so pushy?

"No, I didn't get attacked. Just drop it, ok?" Paige growled. Shana acquiesced, something in the way Paige growled causing her to back down out of respect. It was like Paige had issued an order that she could not disobey. By this time, they had reached the backyard and the drinks. Shana filled up on whatever she was drinking and offered some to Paige, who declined.

"Look, I'm sorry about that. I know I sounded pushy, but I didn't mean to," Shana apologized. Paige just nodded. "I thought that the way you smelled…and then seeing that mark…I just assumed you had been attacked. It wouldn't be the first time those blood-suckers did that," she added, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Fight with vampires often?" Paige asked curiously. She thought about the girls earlier, their strength and speed. Sure it was a deadly combination. But when she thought of Emily, she couldn't imagine the girl ever attacking anyone. Not to fight, at least. _That's not entirely true though_, Paige thought. Emily looked about ready to murder Jenna and Noel earlier.

"I've had my fair share of vamps," Shana shrugged. "But it's nothing compared to the weres. Weres and vamps are always at each other's throats." Whatever dark memory that had Shana jumping to conclusions, seemed to have vanished. Paige noted that she was really good about controlling her anger. There was never a moment that Shana didn't seem to be in control of herself.

"Weres, like werewolves, right?" Paige said, continuing this vein of their conversation. Shana nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "But were all supes, you said? But there's Vampires, weres, uhhh…and Jenna is a 'seer'?" Paige added, wrinkling her eyebrows in confusion. Shana laughed, thinking she had never seen such an adorable expression before. Reminded her of a puppy.

"You say that like it's such a foreign concept! And I know for a fact you run around as an animal at every full moon," she said smiling. "There are all sorts of supernatural-y people here. Like, the witches."

"What?" Paige exclaimed. "Witches? No way!"

"Yeah, there's a lot here now actually," Shana said as she turned to look at the other party goers. "This area is actually enchanted." Paige expected Shana to wave her hands around saying "oooh!" like she trying to be mysterious or spooky, but the girl was as serious as ever.

"Ok, now I know you're messing with me. Enchanted? Are there like pumpkin carriages and horses that turn back into mice?" Paige asked incredulously. Shana gave her a _you've-got-to-be-kidding-me_ kind of look, before answering her.

"I'm being serious. You can't be here unless you're…different," Shana declared. It suddenly made sense why the girls were caught off guard by Paige's sudden appearance. To see someone after such a long time…and to pop up in a place that only a minority of the population had access to…and right after something strange had happened.

"Regular, normal people can't come here?" Paige asked out loud.

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'regular' or 'normal', but your average human can't just meander its way over here. They get turned around, remember something suddenly, or get lost, but they don't come here. And it's safer that they didn't anyway. Shifters and other supernatural beings can live amongst humans but this area is special. Many of our kind are headquartered here, for lack of a better word," Shana explained.

"Sounds like business, corporations or something," Paige muttered. This was a lot to process.

"I guess you could say that. Witches are like old money. A long time ago a couple of the families decided to settle here. It became something of a safe space for our kind. At least, that's how it started," Shana said, dismissively. She watched Paige, watched the way she looked at everyone in the yard. Everything she was saying was completely new information to her, there was no doubt. "You know…the reason I kind of flipped about that mark on your neck…" Shana hesitated, unsure of whether she should finish. The look Paige was giving her made her even more sure she should stop talking, as well as even more curious as to her animal form. Paige commanded an amount of respect that was typically befitting an animal that ranked higher up on the food chain. She cowered slightly as Paige seemed to bare her teeth at her, and it made Shana shift uncomfortably from side to side.

"Yes?" Paige growled, looking down at the nervous girl beside her.

"The thing is," Shana wavered, biting her lip nervously, "the thing is, vampires only bite humans on the neck. They feed on humans, humans are their livestock."

"And what does that have to do with _me_?" Paige asked in a calm, deliberative manner. She didn't appreciate what Shana was hinting at, as it not only seemed to be an attack on herself but Emily as well.

"It's just that…vampires don't feed on us. Our blood is not as appealing to them as a human's would be. If they attack us, they tend to rip our throats out," Shana said carefully. "And…if you've been bitten, on the neck and you're alive…it looks like you've been claimed. Like, branded…like…" Shana trailed off.

"Like what?" Paige barked, her patience for this girl having dissipated rather quickly.

"Like you belong to a vamp," Shana said hurriedly, but looking at Paige questioningly.

"Is this common knowledge, the fact that vampires don't feed on shifters?" Paige asked. She avoided the question Shana was not-so-subtly asking her, but she met Shana's gaze with her own forceful one.

"They consider it beneath them, to feed off of us," Shana answered. "Sure they'll use humans, feed on them, consort with them…but to those blood suckers, we're just dirty animals."

"So you're saying you'd rather they feed on you?" Paige asked sarcastically. Shana glared at her, her lip curling.

"No!" Shana spat, "Let them feed on the humans, but at least treat us with some respect! Werewolves and Vamps, they've always been on opposite sides. We have more in common with Weres, but even the Weres can be crappy. Like, vamps think running around as animals is just degrading or something, and Weres consider themselves the true 'Weres' because they turn into wolves."

"Wait a second…I don't understand. What's the difference in shifters and Weres?" Paige asked.

"I'm a shifter. I can change into just about anything, but I prefer one form, whereas weres turn into a specific animal, like Noel who turns into a panther. But there's a difference in weres and 'Weres', who turn only into wolves. They consider themselves true _Weres_ because of that," Shana explained, a little impatiently. "It's ridiculous that we can turn into just about any animal, while they're stuck becoming the same thing over and over again, yet they act all superior." She had started trembling slightly, her rant affecting her emotional state. Paige could sense that she was agitated, that she wanted to change, but she controlled herself well enough that she wouldn't. She was impressed, but still, Paige's head was reeling with all of this new information. _Could she actually _be_ a werewolf? _But Alison had told her she wasn't…maybe she was lying? But why?

"I'm sorry," Shana said, taking a deep breath. "I know I went off on a rant there. But you don't seem to know much about what's going on. I won't be the only one asking you these things…this place isn't exactly a utopia and it looks like you've already chosen a side," Shana said simply. "How about I go inside and grab your stuff? That way you won't have to run into Jenna." It was a small peace offering and Paige nodded. Giving her a small smile, Shana made her way to the back door.

* * *

As soon as Shana closed the door, she was grabbed roughly and thrown on the couch.

"Hey there foxy lady, got any news for us?" Noel asked, teeth bared as he towered over her. Shana rolled her eyes, dusting herself off and straightening her clothes out.

"Can you tell your boy toy to handle with care? Won't do me much good if his scent is all over me, will it?" Shana said, looking at Jenna who was perched on the table beside him. Noel growled, but Jenna raised her hand.

"That's enough Noel," she said. "She's right. So tell us Shana, get anything useful out of her?"

Shana bit her lip before she spoke. "She's pretty ignorant. Doesn't know anything about us or this place."

"Yeah, no shit mongrel," Noel hissed. Shana glared at him.

"Still a little butt hurt at being reduced to her chew toy?" Shana snapped. Noel bristled and made a move to grab her.

"That's enough!" Jenna commanded. "Is she still unaligned?" Shana and Noel were glaring at each other, teeth bared.

"I'm not sure," Shana said, not taking her eyes off of Noel. "She's been bitten though. Said it was an accident, but it didn't look like an attack. And some vamp's scent is all over her."

"Leave it to Emily, the girl is barely here a day and she can't keep her fangs out of her," Jenna said sarcastically. Shana broke her eye contact with Noel.

"_Emily_? _Emily_ did this?" Shana asked in disbelief. "But I thought…"

"Doesn't matter now, does it? We've missed our chance with the wolf. The odds were stacked against us from the start, anyhow," Jenna said cryptically.

"Wait, wolf? So she is a Were? I couldn't tell, the vamp smell was all over her," Shana said with a hint of resentment. "I knew she was powerful though. Right, Noel?" she asked, unable to resist the jab to his ego.

"Must really suck, finding that you missed your opportunity with yet another Were, huh?" Noel said derisively. "And to a vamp…" Shana's eyes glowed, her body tensing up. Noel smirked at her, satisfied with her response.

"Can it you two. You're going now," Jenna said to Shana. "Grab her stuff and show her to a place she can stay. Keep an eye on her, for as long as you can." Shana shot to her feet quickly, wanting nothing more than to be away from her current company. "Don't start any fights with them," Jenna said, dismissing her.

* * *

As soon as Paige watched Shana disappear inside, she was tapped on the shoulder.

"Hey there new girl. I see you're making your way around." Paige whipped around, coming face-to-face with the girl who had winked at her earlier. She was shorter than both Shana and Emily and her skin tone was lighter than Emily's. She was smiling at Paige sweetly, but Paige wasn't taken in so easily.

"Who are you?" Paige asked, sniffing the air. She was starting to associate certain smells with certain people. The girls had smelled sweet, the air around them cool. Shana and Noel smelled like the earth, the air around them warm and slightly charged. This girl, whoever she was, smelled human but Paige knew she had to be more than that.

"Vanderwaal. But you can call me Mona," the girl said, extending her hand towards Paige. Paige narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the gesture, but she couldn't be rude. She shook hands with her quickly, giving her a firm grasp before letting go.

"No name?" Mona asked, one of her eyebrows raised.

"It's Paige," the wolf said.

"Paige the Werewolf…it's got a nice ring to it," Mona said. "What pack do you belong to?" Paige was hardly fazed by Mona's admission, but she wasn't sure what to make of the whole pack thing. Maybe she should ask Shana about that later.

"I don't," Paige said simply and Mona raised her eyebrows and the corners of her lips turned down as if she was impressed.

"How about you come meet some of my friends? It is a party, after all," Mona said.

"Actually, we were just leaving," Shana said as she walked up to the two girls, handing Paige's stuff back to its owner.

"Wow, Shana, how did _you_ manage to pull a wolf?" Mona asked condescendingly in that saccharine tone of hers. Paige cocked her head questioningly, but before she could speak, Shana cut in.

"Not that it's any business of yours, _witch_, but…wait, it really isn't any of your business."

"I suppose you're right," Mona said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Guess I'll be seeing you later, Paige the Werewolf." Mona walked off, without a backwards glance.

"What was that about?" Paige asked. Shana just rolled her eyes.

"Mona comes from one of the old witch lines. We've never gotten along," Shana said. "She likes to be in everybody's business." Paige nodded. She could see how that was annoying…but she was sure that there was more to the story. And that it wasn't just the interaction with Mona that had Shana so worked up.

"So what's your plan? Where are you going to stay?" Shana asked, abruptly changing the subject. Paige pointed back to the woods, to which Shana made a disapproving sound.

"Just because you turn into an animal, doesn't mean you have to live like one," Shana sighed. "How about you stay with me tonight? You can sleep on the couch, or in the backyard if you really want." Paige frowned, contemplating Shana's suggestion. She really wanted to look for Emily…she knew they were going to talk tomorrow, but she found herself craving the other girl's company. Unconsciously she began rubbing her free hand over the marks on her neck as she thought, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other girl in front of her.

"I wouldn't want to impose…besides, I've been living out there for a while," Paige finally said.

"I asked you, first of all, so it wouldn't be an imposition," the other girl said. "Plus, if you've been living out in the woods, you definitely need a shower," Shana added, crinkling her nose in jest. Paige laughed out loud, surprising herself with the outburst. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed like that. She smiled warmly at Shana, who was smiling back at her.

"Ok, maybe you're right," Paige said, still smiling. "About not having to live like an animal, not the shower part. I am very clean and smell just fine, by the way. Lead the way!"

Shana walked out of the Kahn's backyard with Paige in tow. She liked the way Paige smelled, looked, talked, laughed, everything…minus the vampire scent. Everything about Paige was appealing to her. Did Jenna know how Shana would react to Paige? Is that why she asked for her help? Shana wished that she would've met Paige before agreeing to anything…and she definitely wished she had met her before Emily.


	11. Chapter 10

**What?! Another update, so soon?! Yeah, it's unbelievable, I know. Just a few comments...I held onto that last chapter for a while and I was going to try and add some Paily in there, but I couldn't fit it in. This chapter is pretty much all paily and that's all I will say for now. A couple of you are not having ANY Shana, but I think I might keep her in the mix. I hope you all kind of get what I'm trying to do/set up in this chapter. Let me know what you think!**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Cici: With emily, I think we get that in the show. Like, all the gay girls want Emily lol. And with Shana...she wants Paige. Paige doesn't get the credit she deserves, as far as being alluring, like you said. Hopefully I've helped turn that around a bit!**

**Ran: Thanks! Emily didn't quite bite her fully, but she did leave a mark. Chapter 7, when Paige is trying to console Emily.**

**MindFullofStories: I am a fan of the love triangle...and it's nice to see that Emily feels threatened by someone who is very much interested in Paige, I think :)**

**Jamescottrock54: I know! I'm sorry! D:**

**saii79: Barely a Shana mention in this chap, hopefully it helps some :)**

**NotWriteInTheHead: Thanks so much for you support! I am hoping to start answering those questions soon...it's all in my head right now and I'm trying to piece it all together on paper (or computer...) for you guys :))**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 10**

"_Hey, Emily!"_

_Emily closed her locker, quickly grabbed her stuff and ran away from Paige. She almost made it to the door, when Paige grabbed her arm._

"_Em? What's wrong?" Paige asked worriedly. She and Emily were supposed to practice together. It was something they had been doing all year and it always ended up being the best part of Paige's day. Emily yanked her arm away from Paige's grasp, much to the other girl's hurt and surprise._

"_I can't stay. I have to go." Emily didn't look up at Paige, who was both visibly upset at and worried about Emily._

"_Are we going to practice tomorrow?" Paige implored, looking down at her shoes. Emily still wouldn't look at Paige and she missed the slight pleading in Paige's tone. Guilt, shame, concern and a slight panic were battling against each other in Emily's stomach and in the end, it was the panic that won. _

"_No."_

Emily rolled over, looking at the empty space between her and Spencer. She could still feel the sun had not completely set, which was further evidenced by the slight, lingering paralysis of her body. Vampires were at their most vulnerable during sleep, Alison had told them, and she made sure their resting place was adequately protected.

The girls had absolutely nothing to show for their search, after spending the entire night scouring all of Alison's favorite places. Emily knew there search was futile; she didn't want to admit it, but she knew that Alison was finally gone. Someone had finally done it. The girls didn't talk much when they got back because they all arrived with minutes to spare before sunrise.

Emily spotted Spencer, further away from her than usual. Lifting her head up slightly, she could see why—Spencer was spooning Aria, her face buried in her hair. Emily shook her head. She caught the lingering smell of fae, which smelled quite nice to her but was never _that_ potent to her senses. Besides, it was always the fae women that smelled better to her, not that she had met many of them since being a vampire. Alison always made sure that Emily's attention was hers. She thought about the many ways Alison kept her bound…flirting with her, making her feel like she was special. It was something Ali had done with all of them, make them feel special, but with Emily she would intertwine their fingers as they held hands, push a lock of stray hair behind her ear making sure to keep eye contact the whole time. Emily would blush and smile and her heart would speed up when Ali smiled at her. At first it was small things, sweet gestures…but when she found out about Paige, Alison became mean and possessive. Emily thought about Paige, who had practically been her only friend outside of the group, and had been someone she kept a secret from her friends without even realizing it. She hadn't thought or dreamt of Paige in a long time.

Hanna began to stir from her sleep and Emily sat up, the sun finally releasing its hold upon them.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry," Hanna grumbled as she rolled over on her side to face Emily. "She should be hosed off or something after she comes back from seeing him." Hanna glared at the two girls on the other side of the room, who had yet to move.

"You'd think she would have visited him before her search, so the smell wouldn't be so strong," Emily said. Hanna scoffed.

"We know for a fact she saw him before and after the search. She was the last of us to show up! Are you allowed to booty call the same person twice in one night?" Hanna asked in an exasperated tone.

"I can hear you," Aria mumbled. She elbowed Spencer, who only snuggled closer.

"That's the point," Hanna shot back. She sat up and looked over at Aria and Spencer. "About time you two woke up. You're sleeping the night away!"

"Mrffff."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Hanna asked, cupping her ear with her right hand and craning her neck dramatically. Emily stood up and walked to the window, opening the curtains.

"I'm up!" Spencer said, extricating herself from Aria. "It's too early to be dealing with you, I haven't even had my caffeine fix," she griped at Hanna as she sat up. She looked at Emily, who was staring out the window. "Em?"

Emily turned around, leaning on the window sill. "I'm gonna go. She's waiting for me." Spencer nodded.

"Make sure you eat something first," Hanna said. "I don't think you should see her on an empty stomach." Emily rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying is you have the entire human population at your disposal and yet, you tried to bite a dog."

"Paige is not a dog!" Emily exclaimed vehemently. Spencer and Aria looked at each other.

"Woah Em, I was totally just kidding," Hanna acquiesced. She looked very surprised at Emily's outburst.

"I…I know that. Look, I'll be back later ok?" Emily said to the girls. She didn't make eye contact with any of them when she left.

"Spence…did you say Paige went to the same middle school as us?" Aria asked hesitantly.

"Yeah she did."

"Did Emily ever mention her before?" Aria asked, looking to both Spencer and Hanna. Hanna shrugged.

"I've never heard or seen of her before yesterday," Hanna admitted.

"We played field hockey together. I knew she swam, but Emily never mentioned her at all to us," Spencer added. "Alison never mentioned her either. Not by her name, at least."

"What's your point?" Hanna asked Aria.

"Just thinking. Emily and Paige seemed really comfortable with each other, that's all," Aria said simply. "Like they had been friends before or something."

"Well like I said, they were teammates," Spencer repeated. "Emily's stressed, we all know how Alison treated her. She just needs some time."

* * *

It seemed like the sun had taken forever to set and Paige had been on edge all day. Shana had taken her around town and Paige was pleasantly surprised to find that everything was pretty much as ordinary as it could be. Shops, businesses, people in cars and on bikes—just like any other town, really. They stayed out doors mostly, Shana having picked up on Paige's anxiousness. She didn't want to ask Paige anything that might seem like she was prying, although she was sure that Paige was anxious because of Emily. And she couldn't ask about Emily, because Paige had yet to bring her up. They were sitting on the steps of Shana's apartment when Paige stood up.

"I have somewhere to be. I'll catch you later?" Paige asked, looking at the other girl.

"I'll be here. Unless you have some other girl's apartment to crash in," Shana joked. Paige chuckled. Shana stood up and started walking up the stairs. "When will you be back? Should I hold out for dinner?"

"Nah, go ahead. I'll be back late. If it's too late, I'll just sleep outside or something. Bye!" Paige yelled as she ran off. Shana sprinted up to her apartment, unlocked her door and closed it as she walked inside. Moving quickly, she ran to her room and opened the window. Shifting into a small brown bird with white markings, she flew out the window and in the direction Paige ran off to.

* * *

Paige decided not to turn, instead deciding to sprint to the place she had agreed to meet the girls at. She enjoyed running, plus there was the added incentive of seeing Emily that only added to her speed. Her strides were long, her breathing even, and it didn't take her long at all to find the clearing. Expecting to see all four girls, she was surprised to see only one.

"Emily."

Emily, who had been standing near the lake and looking at her reflection on the water's surface, looked up at Paige with a small smile.

"Hey." Despite being annoyed at Hanna's suggestion, Emily was glad she had fed before coming here. She and the other girls hadn't been vampires for very long; as such, they still had some troubles resisting humans when amongst their company. It had never been a problem with other supes because they learned quickly that they were not for feeding. She could hear the blood rushing throughout Paige's body, her running having caused her blood to be pumped faster.

"I thought the others would be here," Paige said as she walked towards Emily.

"Scared to be all alone with me?" Emily asked innocently. Paige smirked.

"No of course not. I don't mind being alone with you. It's a nice surprise," Paige admitted. She looked around for good measure. "Is Hastings, like, hiding behind a tree or something?"

Emily shook her head in amusement. "You're smart to ask. But no, it's just me. You can even take a look around if you want. I'll wait," she said patiently, sitting down on the ground and looking up at Paige. Paige shook her head and sat down beside her.

"It's cool, I trust you," Paige said simply. "So where do you want to begin? Or are you under direct orders to beat any and all information out of me?"

"Spencer's not that bad, really. She's just…intense. Kind of like how I remember you used to be," Emily stated. Paige looked away, a little shy. She didn't think Emily remembered her that much. "Remember when we first swam against each other? It was supposed to be for fun but when I won, you wouldn't speak to me for a week."

"Hey! I had never been beaten before," Paige defended herself. "I remember I spent such a long time in the showers, trying to avoid talking with you the rest of the afternoon, that coach thought I was trying to drown myself in the showers," Paige chuckled. "How do you even remember that? That was ages ago," she asked in disbelief. It was Emily's turn to look away.

"I remember a lot of things."

They sat in silence for a bit, both girls not quite sure where to go from here. A bird chirped somewhere and Paige decided to speak again before the crickets started up.

"So…how's the vampire life treating you?" Paige asked in an exaggerated nonchalant voice. Emily's eyes widened and she started laughing at Paige's ridiculous attempt at being casual. Paige smiled widely, enjoying the way Emily was reacting. "What? It was getting awkward."

"Fighting awkward with awkward? Smooth," Emily laughed. "How about you ask a question, then I'll ask a question. It can be any question and if you refuse to answer, you have to do whatever the asker wants." Paige perked up, sensing a challenge.

"How do you win?" Paige asked. Emily's eyebrows quirked and she looked at Paige questioningly. It wasn't supposed to be a competitive game, more of an ice breaker. But Paige looked excited at the thought of a competition and it reminded her suddenly of a much younger looking Paige eager at the prospect of out-swimming someone.

"Uhmm…whoever answers the most questions, I guess," Emily said. She saw the determined look in Paige's eyes. "Agreed?" Emily asked and Paige nodded. "Ok, you first."

"How did you become a vampire?" Paige asked right away.

"I was turned. By Alison," Emily answered. "My turn," she added quickly, before Paige could say anything. "How did you end up here?"

"I walked," Paige said with a shrug and Emily narrowed her eyes. She wasn't trying to be smart, but there was really nothing more to it. "Did Alison turn all of you? How did Alison become a vampire?"

"Nuh uh, that was two questions. Besides, 'I walked'? That barely counts as an answer. My turn," Emily said.

"Wait! How do you figure?" Paige exclaimed. "It's true! I walked…to this spot and I was swimming when…well, I just ended up being here. Now you have to answer at least one of the questions asked!" Emily bit back her response to Paige's explanation of how she ended up in the area. She suspected there was more to the story. Plus she was finding Paige's excitement for their "game" endearing.

"Calm down, Paige, I'll answer!" Emily relented. Paige raised her fist in triumph. "Alison turned all of us."

"She turned you? How?" Paige asked, her tone serious.

"It's a process…I'll spare you the gory details. Besides, it's my turn now. Why did you leave school?" Emily asked, genuinely curious. When Paige had disappeared, she was never permitted to grieve. She had been concerned, of course, because it happened not too long after she was forced to cut ties with her teammate. It wasn't too long after Paige that Alison had disappeared as well. The first time, anyhow.

"I ran away," Paige answered, looking away from Emily. "I was sitting on my bed and my body started convulsing. I didn't know what was happening. I ran outside and I changed…I changed into a puppy and I ran away."

"Oh Paige…you were so young…I'm so sorry," Emily said, understanding what it was like to go through a change like that, except Paige had been completely on her own. Thinking back to her dream, of the last time she had talked with Paige, made the guilt she felt as a young teen more prominent now. At the time, her feelings of guilt had been assuaged by the reassurance from Alison that she had done the right thing, and the subtle promise of having so much more with the blonde-haired girl. Emily had been young and naïve and she allowed Paige to become just another memory banished to the back of her mind. "You didn't know?"

Paige shook her head. "I had no way of knowing. I was adopted…and when I changed, I couldn't go back. I didn't belong there anymore." Emily placed her hand on Paige's knee and Paige looked at her thankful for the comforting gesture. Emily smiled at her and Paige's heartbeat doubled. This didn't go unnoticed by Emily, who gave Paige a small squeeze and moved her hand. She didn't need to be distracted like this; there were more questions to ask and despite having fed, already her eyes were roving along Paige's neck, zeroing in on what appeared to be bite marks…_bite marks_?

"Who bit you?" Emily demanded suddenly, jolting Paige out of her thoughts. She moved her hand to her neck, her fingers moving across the small bumps. Emily's outburst confused her.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked. Did she not remember? Emily leaned closer to Paige, her eyes searching her body, her nostrils flared. "Are…are you _smelling_ me?" Paige asked incredulously, her eyes wide. Paige was overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions, most of them stemming from how close Emily was to her and the way her body automatically reacted to her.

"I don't smell another vampire…" Emily said, more to herself than anything. Emily seemed to be upset about something and Paige wasn't sure what it was.

"Emily!" Paige said, as Emily tried to move closer in her investigation. They were both on their knees, their faces inches apart when Emily finally heard Paige. "Emily, _you_ bit me, remember? It wasn't serious…you barely even nicked me." Emily stared blankly at her at first, then her eyebrows crashed together as she finally_ listened_ to what Paige was saying.

"I bit you? I thought…but I didn't taste blood," Emily said slowly. "Hanna said I _almost_ bit you."

"Well I guess it looked like that from where she was standing. But you broke skin," Paige reiterated, quickly adding, "but it didn't hurt or anything. Besides, it was my fault for just grabbing you. You didn't know what was going on. And I didn't really bleed, just a few drops." Emily sat down heavily, the impact of what Paige was telling her, what she had done, sinking in.

"I bit you," Emily said. "I thought someone else had…"

"It's ok, you're not the only one who thought I was attacked. Shana thought…"

"Wait, Shana?" Emily asked. She didn't bother trying to correct Paige's assumption—that Emily was worried she had been attacked—in fact, Emily had been upset at the thought of anyone _claiming_ Paige, which was ridiculous considering that Paige was one, un-claimable, because two, she was a werewolf. Apparently Paige did not understand that Emily had _wanted_ to bite her (and still kind of does) and that it was not just simply a reaction to being caught by surprise.

"Yeah, Shana. I met her at Noel's place last night. She let me stay at her place for the night," Paige revealed. Emily stayed quiet. "She explained some things to me. Like the fact that vampires and shifters don't get along very well. And something about witches. I didn't say anything about you, or the others though, just that there had been a misunderstanding. Anyway, I thought it was odd that there were any marks on my neck at all. I heal pretty fast and something that small shouldn't have left a mark." It was something that had been on Paige's mind and she waited to ask the girls, because she wasn't sure Shana was the right person to talk to about it.

"What did Shana tell you about vampires and shifters?" Emily asked instead of answering. Paige sighed.

"She said that there were two kinds of shifters, ones that changed into anything and ones that changed into one animal form. Shifters and vamps didn't get along, I don't know why, and that vamps don't feed on shifters," Paige recited. "Why don't vampires feed on shifters? Shifters are still human right?"

"Yes and no," Emily answered. "We're natural enemies. Shifters can't heal properly from vampire bites. You might see shifters sporting a vampire bite on their bodies from a fight, but never on the neck."

"Why not?" Paige asked, somewhat confused.

"There are rules we follow separately, as vampires and shifters, but there are general rules we follow as supernatural creatures. We don't always know why…but if a vampire ever bites a shifter in the neck, it's for the kill," Emily said. "Shifters aren't fit for Vampire consumption."

She remembered Alison dismissing shifters—_savage beasts_, she had call them, _not worth our time_. It was this kind of attitude Emily could never fully get behind and it was one of the reasons she couldn't stand the other girls calling Paige "dog". But none of that was conveyed to Paige, who heard Emily regurgitate that statement like a dutiful student repeating the day's lesson. She wasn't sure if Emily believed what she was saying, or if she had simply taken it as a fact of life. Either way, Paige couldn't believe how uncannily Emily sounded like Alison when said it. It was that more than anything that was starting to make her tremble.

"Are you saying that shifters aren't good enough for vampires? That we are beneath you?" Paige asked slowly, parts of her equally confused and angered at Emily's statement. Being a shifter was something Paige was still learning about, but she knew it was an integral part of her identity. Her blood boiled at the thought of being seen as lesser than anyone or anything because of something she could not help. Emily, whether she knew it or not, was making it quite clear the distinction between her and Paige.

"Listen to me, Paige. I'm not saying that," Emily sensed that she was losing the other girl. In the distance she heard a bird chirping anxiously, as if it too could sense the danger of the situation, of Paige's anger. "We have inherited a feud that has raged on long before either of us existed. Shifters and vampires are prejudiced against each other, from birth." She was trying to explain the situation, but apparently she wasn't doing it right.

"And that makes it ok?" Paige snapped.

"I'm not saying there's something wrong with you…" Emily began, trying to get a handle on the situation. But Paige's vision was hazy, and she shook her head from side to side as her mind recalled the many taunts she had to endure over the years…_mongrel…mutt…bitch…flea-infested tramp_…pigskin. That was it. Paige gripped her head with both of her hands. There it was and it was because of Alison and now it was because of Emily and it was too much for Paige who exploded into a mass of furs, fangs and claws. Before Emily could say anything Paige had ran off, but not before letting forth an anguished howl that racked the vampire's body with pain, guilt and remorse like she had never felt before.


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello all! My deepest and most sincere apologies for the time between this update and the last. School is out, but I am still ridiculously busy with crap. The good news, however, is that this story is now my go-to-procrastination-story whenever I don't want to do my real work! I've been thinking about how long I want this story to be, which means more characters and story lines...but always with a Paily focus. Please let me know what you think and I'm sorry I didn't get to your individual reviews, but I wanted to go ahead and get this chapter out. As always, thanks for your reviews! -ASE**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 11**

It had only been minutes after Paige disappeared when from behind her, Emily felt arms wrapping around her torso.

"Emily, are you ok?" Spencer asked softly as she rested her chin on the girl's shoulder. To Emily's left, Hanna appeared and was holding her hand. On Emily's other side, Aria had enveloped her arm in hers. The girls had felt Emily's pain like it was their own; one of the benefits of being "sisters", sharing the same blood—the same maker. Emily was still staring helplessly at the spot where Paige had disappeared from her sight completely. The night was completely still, even the bird that had been chirping earlier had left her to herself.

"Em, what happened?" Hanna asked. She tried to see what Emily was staring at, but couldn't figure out what it was. Along with the pain was guilt and she could sense that Emily wanted to correct whatever misunderstanding had taken place. Emily was always thinking of others before herself.

"Paige…" was all she managed to say, feeling Spencer tighten her grip slightly.

"I will destroy her," Spencer growled. Gritting her teeth, Emily shrugged the girls off and crossed her arms.

"She didn't do anything. It was me." Emily said as she backed away from them, scowling at Spencer. "I hurt her. Is it so hard to believe that I could be the bad guy here?"

"Em, if you don't want to talk about it, it's ok," Aria said, looking from her to Spencer. At least Spencer had the decency to look admonished. "But we're here for you."

"We always will be," Hanna added. "Are you going to go after her?"

Emily gave Hanna an appreciative look before answering. "I think she needs some space. She doesn't know a lot about this place and I only made her feel worse."

"Well where did she go? Should we be worried that there is an emotionally compromised werewolf running loose?" Spencer asked abruptly, to the astonishment of both Hanna and Aria. At times, Spencer rivaled Hanna with her lack of subtlety.

"Could you at least pretend to be a good friend here?" Hanna hissed. "Or are you bound and determined to hate Paige, at the expense of your friends?" Quite frankly, Hanna was tired of Spencer's attitude towards Paige, mostly because of the way it affected Emily, but also because there didn't seem to be any need for it.

"She probably went to find Shana," Emily said, without thinking.

"You mean Paige is shacking up with Shana?" Hanna asked, confused by this turn of events. And Emily's tone. "Damn that girl works fast."

"Who, Shana or Paige?" Aria said.

"Guys," Emily said with a deadly calm, signaling to the other two that they should stop their conversation from heading where it was heading. "I didn't say she was _shacking_ up with her. All I know is that Shana has talked to Paige. She's been explaining some things about our world to her." Emily didn't even want to think about Paige being with Shana, in that way. In any way, really.

"Her prejudices, you mean?" Spencer said. "Probably filling McCuller's head with anti-vampire propaganda. What does it matter? It's not like we need her. Sooner or later she will be found by other Weres and she will have to choose what pack to align with. Even if she found a neutral pack, they still don't consider themselves as friends to vampires." Spencer was pissed. The looks Paige had been giving Emily were enough to convince her that Emily would have no problem getting some answers from her, answers they desperately needed. Paige may or may not be an essential piece to the puzzle, but Spencer knew there was more to the story of how she was able to come here. Emily wasn't supposed to run her off.

Aria nodded, agreeing with Spencer's statement. She walked up to Emily and reached out to touch her arm. "It's done, Em. She never could have been on our side anyway," Aria said. "Allison wouldn't even let us _look_ at her brother when he got himself bitten, remember?"

"Alison may have made us, but we are not _hers_!" Hanna interjected. "Paige was willing to help us, at the expense of pissing off Jenna. That should mean something. It's about time these old prejudices died off anyway. And we know that Allison didn't need a reason to be awful." As the girls bickered, Emily remembered something.

"Paige has been marked," she informed them.

"That's impossible," Spencer denounced. "In what way? Shifters are such primitive beasts. Who marked her, Shana?" she said mockingly.

"No," Emily said in a strained voice, "I did."

* * *

Paige didn't know where she was or where she was going. Snippets of Emily's words were playing through her head, even if her brain did not want to reconcile the pain that she was feeling with Emily's voice—that it was because of Emily, that she was hurting. She didn't have a place she felt like going to or someone who could comfort her. The only place she could think of was the lake she had first encountered Emily; and so she ran the furthest away from it that she could.

She knew that if she kept going straight, she would cut through town. Sticking to the forest was a good idea for both her and anyone she might come across and she made the conscious decision to continue her run through the thickest parts of trees and foliage that she could find. She could feel herself descending back to that place of despair, her thoughts turning against her, making her sluggish and miserable.

Suddenly she felt inexplicably relaxed, as if someone had plucked the entirety of her desolation from her brain, roots and all. As the waves of comfort washed over her, she almost missed the rustling of foliage around her which gave way to a number of glowing eyes around her, making her stop quickly. She tried to remain alert, but it was hard to clear the warm, soothing fuzziness that seemed to be cushioning her brain. There were about five wolves, surrounding her, it appeared, with a sixth one walking towards her. All of the wolves fur seemed to be a different color, from jet black, to brown and even white. She tried to raise her hackles and growl at whoever was approaching her, but it seemed to go against how light and peaceful she was feeling and as a compromise, she remained standing on all fours instead of sitting down like the others had done around her. The wolf that was approaching her had shorter fur than her, and was a lighter color, light brown and blondish. It lowered its head slightly, looking at Paige from the side rather than directly. Paige was still feeling oddly content, though she registered that whoever was approaching her was not a threat. The wolf sniffed cautiously at her, its tail wagging slightly when Paige remained still, only growling slightly, and continued looking down at the other wolf in her refusal of submitting to how peaceful she was being forced to feel. She still couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, but she could tell it wasn't from the wolf in front of her. The wolf gave a small yip over its shoulder and sat down in front of Paige, still avoiding direct eye contact, but wagging its tail nonetheless.

"We're sorry about all of this. It may seem like a little too much, but we've had to deal with a lot of upset wolves and that can be some dangerous work."

Paige had barely registered the movement behind the wolf, where a young man had appeared from behind some trees. He was dressed simply, in a plain t shirt and pants, which looked to be worn and faded. He had dirty blond hair that was pushed back behind his ears and his dark green eyes looked at Paige warmly as he walked up towards her.

"I'm going to ease up a little on the influence being exerted over you. We promise that we are not here to harm you," the man said as he gestured towards the other wolves, who dipped their muzzles in agreement.

_Influence, huh? Guess he's where the warm and fuzzies are coming from_, Paige thought. True to his word, she could feel the tingle of the trespassing emotions fade away freeing the despair that had been kept at bay, which made her feel worse than she originally felt. Clamping her jaw shut, so as not to let a sound escape her mouth, Paige forced her eyes to remain on the man in front of her. Beside him, the wolf that had walked up to her originally whined towards her, but the man held up a hand and he stopped.

"We would ask you to change, but we don't think you would feel comfortable doing that in front of us. We have some spare clothes, though, and we can give you some privacy," the man said to Paige. She watched as he retrieved something from behind the tree, a small knapsack it looked like, and he set it down in front of her. She sniffed at it curiously then looked around at the other wolves, who were watching her just as curiously. She gave a small snort, to which the man correctively assumed was derision on his offering of privacy. He turned to the wolves and spoke in a firm, but not unkindly, tone.

"Please, let us give this wolf some privacy," was all he said, and in one uniform motion, all of the wolves that were surrounding them turned away from her. With a nod, the man turned around as well, leaving Paige surrounded by the backs of the wolves. She remained suspicious of this man and his pack, as it would seem, but she was tired of running and felt drained from the range of emotions she had experienced in less than an hour. Shifting quickly, she rifled through the bag to find a man's shirt and shorts, which she threw on hastily. The shirt was big on her and she folded the waist of the shorts over a couple times so that they would fit her a little better, or at least so they wouldn't slide off. She crossed her arms and cleared her throat.

"Finished," she said gruffly and she crossed her arms. The man was the first to turn around and he gave Paige that same friendly smile as before.

"It's ok everyone," he said, and the wolves turned around as well. Paige had noted that none of the wolves had moved the entire time she dressed herself. "We're the Were Welcome Wagon, if you'll excuse the alliteration," he started, bowing slightly while keeping eye contact with her. He was very polite and Paige suspected from his manners that he was well-bred, from a family that had some money, except that he seemed genuinely polite without the snarkiness she was used to from other "polite" trust-fund babies. Not entirely sure how to react, Paige just nodded, and the man seemed to take this as a cue to continue.

"I'm sure we surprised you a bit, the way we introduced ourselves, but we were concerned about you. We could feel how hurt you were and we wanted to help. We thought maybe you were a newly bitten-wolf, but we can see that we were wrong," the man said. _There's that word again_, Paige thought upon hearing "bitten".

"Why do you speak like that?" Paige asked sharply. The man looked at her quizzically and the wolf beside him cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Speak like what?" the man said carefully.

"You say 'we' a lot. Do you speak for all of them too?" Paige asked, waving her hand to the others. The wolves around her started to fidget, as if they were agitated. Paige started to bristle, their agitated states making her tense. She bared her teeth at them and immediately they began to quiet down, with a few of them even lying flat on their bellies with their tails tucked beneath them and their ears flattened.

"Do you not belong to a pack?" the man asked with some concern, flicking his eyes towards the other wolves briefly.

"No," Paige said simply.

"You are not a bitten-wolf and you do not belong to a pack," the man repeated slowly, more for himself it seemed.

"Right. How do you know I _wasn't_ bitten?" Paige asked, emphasizing "wasn't" in direct challenge to the man's statement. She was tired of dealing with all of this "bitten" business. Between all the flack she had gotten from the marks on her neck, the Jenna-Noel thing, the girls and her time with Emily, Paige was ready for a fight, as it was the one of the only ways she could deal with her pent-up emotions.

"You were not bitten by a Were, which does not make you a bitten-wolf," the man clarified. Paige deflated a bit, her willingness to fight not only bordered on recklessness, but she was also being very rude. Apparently, one could become a wolf by being bitten by another Were which was obviously what the man was referring to when he said "bitten-wolf", and not to the mark on Paige's neck. She flushed and looked away, embarrassed at her assumption, and when she finally looked at the man, she saw that his eyes were downcast, once again giving her privacy.

"I'm sorry," Paige said. The man nodded in acceptance.

"We are not so quick to judge and we're sorry if we made you think that we were. If you would like to follow us, we can take you back to our home and explain ourselves a bit more. It's not too far away and we promise that we will take good care of you. Our word means everything to us and we would never break it," the man explained. "If you would like to phase back, we will escort you there."

Paige was still unsure as to whether or not she should agree, but if the wolves had wanted to do her any harm they could have, as she was heavily outnumbered. True, she could see that these wolves were smaller than herself, but the most she could have done if they attacked her was to try and get away. She didn't really want to go anywhere else, vaguely recalling that she was in fact staying over at Shana's, something that she hadn't thought of since leaving Emily. Emily…she needed more information about this place and she figured she'd be getting at least that if she followed these wolves.

"Ok, I'll go with you guys. By the way, what is your name?"

The man smiled, pleased that Paige agreed to go with them. "My name is Jason DiLaurentis," he said before phasing back to his wolf form. Feeling like that name should have more of an impact on her than it did, Paige shrugged it away and phased as well, bounding quickly after Jason's retreating form.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello! thanks for all your reviews! You guys are posing some awesome questions that will definitely be considered and addressed in later chapters. I'm trying not to make this story unnecessarily confusing, as I am tweaking and changing the characters around a bit, but if something is unclear just ask and I will try and clear it up. It's hard reading through this thing thinking that I've made myself clear, when I know what's going to happen/already happened. Just a quick note, line breaks mean the story has changed to focus on different characters. I know I wanted to focus mostly on Paily, but I'm finding it fun exploring the other characters' stories. Still a Paily story tho, promise! Please read and review and once again I really appreciate you all :))**

**Guest: I'm not gonna lie, that might be awhile...**

**Waterbug86: thanks for sticking with the story! Yes, procrastination is everyone's best friend and worst enemy lol**

**MindFullofStories: You know it! I like the idea of Jason being a semi-wolf...it'll be interesting to write about :D**

**Jamscottroc54: thanks!**

**saii79: That is a great question. Since it's already known in the show, I forgot that for awhile it wasn't lol (if that makes sense). I guess I will see about working that into the story...**

**TheGreenEyedRioN: Thanks! I like that you find it challenging! It sure is a challenge writing this thing lol.**

**go-sullivan: Definitely. Your immortal question is a good one and definitely something I'm considering approaching, but I'm not sure how yet.**

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 12**

"What the hell do you mean you _marked_ her? How is that a thing? That can't be a thing!" Spencer exclaimed vehemently.

"That's pretty butch of you, Em," Hanna said, impressed. Spencer practically pulled her hair out in frustration. "By the way, you look like a fish," Hanna added as she watched Spencer open and close her mouth repeatedly, trying and failing to make a response. Letting out a growl, Spencer began pacing with her hands still in her hair.

"Are you sure, Emily?" Aria asked. Emily was watching Spencer pace, her arms crossed and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes, I am. As much as I love seeing Spencer overreact, I wouldn't just make up something like this," Emily admitted.

"Is that why she left? I told you to feed before you met up with her!" Hanna jested, playfully scolding Emily like she would a little kid. Emily just shook her head.

"No, it happened that night…the other night when we knew about Allie. When…she was holding me, and I…"

"Couldn't control yourself?" Spencer interjected forcefully.

"Finally found the ability to talk, did you?" Emily said coolly. Spencer clenched her jaw. Hanna and Aria moved quickly to each of their sides—Hanna beside Emily, Aria beside Spencer.

"This isn't funny, Emily!" Spencer yelled, tugging at her hair.

"Who's laughing?" Emily yelled right back.

"Spencer, calm down," Aria said soothingly.

"Keep 'em coming, Em!" Hanna whooped enthusiastically. Aria glared at her.

"Do you know what this means?" Spencer snapped, ignoring Hanna's comment. Emily was glaring at Spencer. "No, you don't know what it means! No one knows! This kind of stuff isn't supposed to happen, we have rules for a reason! And we follow them for a reason!"

"Cool it, Spencer, it's not the end of the world," Hanna warned, watching Emily's facial expressions.

"How do you know that?" Spencer spat out.

"How do you?" Emily finally said. "We don't know if this is the first time something like this has happened or not and by the way, I was only informing you of what happened. I can handle this myself."

"Oh, like you handled not biting McCullers?" Spencer replied scathingly.

"It was an accident!" Hanna shrieked.

"It was a mistake! A mistake that's going to cost us big!" Spencer yelled. "We're already dealing with Alison, Jenna is back in town, and here's Emily, biting a friggin' _werewolf_ who conveniently shows up after our Allie disappears!"

"You don't think I know the situation?!" Emily shouted, "Stop treating us like we're your subordinates! You'd certainly make Allison proud, the way you're trying to control our lives!"

"Oh yeah? At least I can think for myself, not like you, following Allison around like some kind of pathetic _dog_," Spencer spat, and even before she said the last word she knew she had gone too far. Emily's eyes flashed and before anyone could say a word, she disappeared.

"I hope you know what you're doing Spencer," Hanna muttered, walking away without giving Spencer another glance. Spencer sighed, shoving her face into her hands and dropping heavily to the ground.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Spencer lamented. Aria sat beside her, pushing Spencer's hair back behind her ears so that she could see her face.

"How was it supposed to be?" she asked. Spencer sighed.

"She was just supposed to get information…" Spencer started. Aria nodded.

"You can't control everything, Spence. And you can't be Emily's protector. She doesn't need you squawking at her like a mother hen. She needs a friend," Aria counseled.

"After all she's been through…" Spencer started again, but Aria cut her off.

"Yeah, Em's been through a lot. We all have. If you're gonna keep treating her like someone who needs to be looked after, you're completely undermining her strength," Aria explained. "The more you try and tighten your grip, the more likely Emily and Hanna, and me eventually, will slip through your fingers." There was a pause, as Spencer considered her words.

"Wait…is that a quote from Star Wars?" Spencer finally asked. Aria scratched her head. "That is totally a quote from Star Wars! Have you been marathoning Star Wars with Hanna again?"

"Well no…actually, Ezra and I decided to watch the original trilogy the other night…but it still fights huh?" Aria said, smiling. Spencer laughed.

"Ok, you're right. I will stop trying to run everyone's lives," Spencer said. "I can focus on figuring out what happened with Allie and trust Emily to deal with McCullers," she repeated as if she was thinking out loud. "Where should we start?"

"Well it's obvious Jenna knows something, but I don't think we're getting any answers there anytime soon," Aria said.

"Yeah, you're right. What about the people at her party? Let's start with some of them. I saw more than a few witches in attendance, let's check out some of their covens."

"Good idea, Spence."

* * *

They hadn't run too far before Paige saw a warehouse, which was where all of the wolves were heading towards. A few of the wolves, who appeared to be happy they were back, began to nip at each other, wrestling in front of the doors. Paige kept to the sidelines, where a few of the other wolves watched her curiously. The lighter, blond haired wolf sat beside her, growling at the curious ones who were watching her. She glanced at him briefly, to which he ducked his muzzle at her in what appeared to be a polite gesture. He still avoided eye contact with her and it was something that Paige filed away as a potential question for Jason. She noticed that not only was she bigger than these wolves, but they all tended to avoid eye contact with her.

Having zoned out while thinking, she was somewhat startled by a wolf that had fallen on its back and rolled onto her paws. It looked up at her, its ears flattened, eyes two narrow slits, paws curled up to its chest with its belly exposed. It whined softly at her in apology, causing Paige to sniff at it curiously. The wolf was jet black and Paige could smell that it was male. He was smaller than the others, his paws looking to be a bit bigger than what his build allowed and it reminded Paige of a growing boy. Not entirely sure what to do, considering that she couldn't talk and she hadn't had much practice with wolf communication, she sniffed at his muzzle and licked him affectionately. The wolves he had been playing with yipped excitedly and the black wolf's tail wagged happily. Paige sat back on her haunches as the black wolf jumped up and bowed to her, looking up at her with his head at his front paws and his tail wagging enthusiastically up in the air and with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, looking like a puppy trying to get her to play with him. He barked at her and had Paige been human, she would have laughed at his display. Instead, she knocked him with her muzzle and he bounded away to play with his friends, who tackled him immediately.

A sharp bark pierced the ear and all of the wolves ran over to the warehouse, where Jason and the blond-haired wolf stood in front of a large door. He grasped the handle at the bottom and lifted it up and all the wolves bounded in, many of them shifting back to their human forms as they did so. Jason handed some clothes to Paige, who grabbed them with her mouth.

"You can change over there if you'd like," he said, indicating an area of trees. Paige nodded and headed over, changing quickly. She looked around, trying to memorize this area in case she needed to find it again. Lots of trees of course, but besides the warehouse, it didn't seem like there was much of anything else in this area. There were a few smaller buildings, which looked to be decent-sized garages that were nearby, but they were very close to the warehouse which probably meant they were just extensions of it. Paige walked over to the opening and was immediately greeted by a young boy with short black hair.

"Hi!" he said, looking up at Paige and smiling widely. She recognized him as the wolf that had rolled onto her paws.

"Hey yourself, kid. Better watch out where you're rolling next time, hm?" she replied, to which he just grinned.

"My name's Mike, what's yours?" he asked, his blue eyes shining brightly. She could swear he could see his wolf ears perched on the top of his head and imagined his tail waving back and forth excitedly.

"It's Paige," she said, her affection for this animated boy growing immensely. "So what is this place?" she asked.

"This is Jason's shop. He's a mechanic. He owns a bunch of cars and stuff and we all help fix them. Come inside and look!" he said, grabbing Paige's hand and leading her inside. She could see that this part of the warehouse was a mechanic's garage, tires, tools, air compressors lined the walls with some cars occupying a couple of the car lifts. She looked up and saw that there were metal landings and walkways that lead to different doors. More than a few people were staring at her, also, and when they saw that she was looking at them, they scattered.

"Easy Mike, you don't want to scare off our beautiful guest." Paige turned towards whoever had spoken, her eyes resting on a man that was about 3-4 inches taller than Mike. His hair was blond and slightly brown, and his eyes were blue like Mike's with a more mature look. Paige recognized him as the wolf that had been polite to her and who seemed to act as second-in-command. He nodded at her and she nodded slightly back in acknowledgement.

"I'm not gonna scare her off, Paige is my buddy," Mike said and Paige ruffled his hair affectionately. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite place who it might be, but in looks only. It's not like she knew a lot of people anyway.

"Go help the others in the kitchen," the blond-haired man said and Mike nodded, giving Paige a smile before bouncing off.

"That kid's got a lot of energy," Paige said, chuckling. The man smiled and Paige found herself appreciating how his smile made his eyes soft and warm. He was handsome, something she could acknowledge and appreciate, even though she knew she wasn't attracted to him in any other way.

"Yeah, he's the youngest one here," he said. "By the way, my name is Sean," he said as he extended his hand out to her, palm up. Paige grasped it with her own hand, turning their hands so they were level, and shook it. His hand was calloused and he held her hand firmly, but gently.

"Nice to meet you," Paige said, letting go of his hand. Sean nodded again.

"Very pleased to meet you as well. Why don't you follow me into the kitchen? Jason and the rest of the pack are fixing up something for you to eat. He figured you might be hungry," Sean said, gesturing towards the other side of the room.

"Sure."

Behind Paige, outside of the warehouse, a small brown bird flitted away, leaving the area quickly.

* * *

The girls had been through a lot—after Allison had "left" the first time, the girls had been stalked and tormented relentlessly by a then-mystery person only known as "A". Throughout their ordeal, the girls learned quickly that trusting each other was the only way to stay sane in the A game. Emily trusted those girls with her life—and even in death, she couldn't imagine being parted with her best friends. But now, now Emily needed some space.

After her row with Spencer, she fled before she did something she'd regret—whether that was striking Spencer or bursting into furious tears, she wasn't too sure. She refused to be the weakest link anymore and sometimes it seemed like her friends, Spencer mostly, still expected her to be.

Emily knew every inch of Rosewood, but she was hardly paying attention to where she was going and found herself in an area that she wasn't too familiar with. She inhaled deeply through her nose, compartmentalizing the smells around her. Some were familiar, like the surrounding trees and foliage, some animal life…Emily inhaled again. _Wolves_….She must've wandered into a pack's territory. Vampires and wolves were adamant in keeping their locations a secret and as a result, neither tended to just show up in each other's territory. Somewhat puzzled, Emily inhaled again and this time she could pick up seven distinct smells with one standing out above the rest. _Paige? _Emily thought, her eyes darting around quickly, trying to find her. Not seeing her, but trusting her instinct above all else, Emily decided to follow Paige's scent.

"Em! Hey, wait up!" Hanna yelled out, walking towards her. Emily spared a glance at the direction she was headed, before turning towards Hanna.

"What's the plan?" Hanna asked.

"Plan?" Emily asked, puzzled. Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Plan, yes the plan! You know, with Paige and your inability to keep your fangs off of her and Spencer's overreacting," Hanna explained. "You said you were gonna deal with it and I was wondering if I could help." She smiled at Emily, who looked at Hanna cautiously.

"Hanna, I appreciate that you want to help, but I'm not sure if this is a good time," Emily faltered. Hanna quirked her eyebrows.

"Why not?"

"Well…to tell you the truth, I don't really have a plan, per se," Emily admitted. "I was just gonna find Paige and apologize…and plan from there, I guess."

"What exactly are you apologizing for, Em?" Hanna asked. She was curious as to what actually transpired between the two, as it was considerable enough for not only Paige to run away from Emily, but was also causing Emily to feel extremely guilty. Emily sighed and Hanna sat down, patting the ground beside her. "C'mon, tell Han all about it."

Emily sat down beside her, figuring that following Paige could wait a bit. Besides, she really needed to talk to someone about what happened and Hanna seemed to be willing to listen. She sat down and Hanna looped her arm around one of hers and laid her head on her shoulder. Emily was glad for the comforting contact and began to tell her what happened.

"We were doing ok at first. I don't know what Spencer is so paranoid about, but Paige really doesn't know much about us, or herself, or this place. I asked a question and she asked a question and we were being honest with each other," Emily began.

"How do you know she was being honest?" Hanna asked. Emily smiled.

"Paige is the kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve. She was always very…expressive, emotionally. If something bothered her and she didn't want anyone to know, she would overcompensate with a different emotion, to try and mask whatever it was that was bothering her. Even back then, I knew when she was lying," Emily recalled fondly.

"Back then? How exactly did you know her?" Hanna inquired. She made a note of the way Emily changed when she spoke about Paige. She sounded warmer, more affectionate like Paige reminded her of better times.

"I knew her in middle school. She moved into the area at the start of 6th grade and we tried out for the swim team. She was extremely focused and competitive and she had to be the best, so naturally when it was time for us to race, and I beat her, she became so upset that she didn't speak or look at me for at least a week," Emily said, laughing. "Even when we both made the team, she avoided me for the longest time and it turned out she was using all of her spare time to practice. And this was in middle school!" Hanna smiled, enjoying listening to Emily telling her story and Emily's laughter.

"So when did she succumb to the charm of Ms. Emily Fields?" Hanna asked. Emily smirked.

"It was difficult at first. I really wanted to be friends with her but every time I tried to extend a hand of friendship I was aggressively rebuffed until finally, I made a joke and she just busted out laughing! I couldn't tell you what the joke was about, but Paige laughed so hard and I had never seen her smile like that before, ever," Emily remembered. "Even Paige looked surprised that she was laughing."

"You watched her?" Hanna probed. "Did you have a crush on her?"

Emily was quiet for a while. "I did. This was before I knew anything about being gay, although I knew that my feelings for Allison were beyond strictly platonic. Paige was my only friend outside of our group and I just really liked being around her, joking with her and swimming with her. She was the only competition I ever had in the water and I enjoyed being able to hang out with her every day, without anyone else," Emily said. "I…I wrote her a letter, telling her how I felt and that I wanted to know if she felt the same, but Alison found it." Hanna hugged Emily's arm tighter.

"Oh, Em…"

"She found it and she was furious. I had never seen her so angry before. She threatened to tell the entire school if I didn't stop hanging out with Paige," Emily recalled. "Of course I listened to her, scared out of my mind that everyone would know, and I was so ashamed of myself, and so in love with Allison that I would've done anything she asked, and I told Paige we couldn't hang out anymore, that we couldn't be friends, and that was it. I avoided Paige, never spoke to her again, and then she disappeared," Emily whispered. Hanna suddenly remembered back to one day, when all of them had been sitting at a park bench and Alison strolled up to them with a piece of paper.

"_Looks like a missing Pigskin," Alison had said, looking at Emily who in turn looked confused._

"_What's a 'Pigskin'?" Hanna had asked, while Spencer and Aria giggled beside her, thinking that name was funny. Alison shoved the piece of paper into Emily's hands, and Hanna watched as Emily's eyes changed from confusion to surprise, to worry, then hardened completely. She balled up the paper and threw it over her shoulder, shrugging._

"_It's nothing important," she said, taking a bite of her frozen yogurt. Hanna was gonna ask again, as she didn't consider her question answered, but at the moment Alison took a big spoonful out of Hanna's own frozen yogurt._

"_Half a scoop for you, remember Hefty Hanna?" Alison said as she licked her spoon clean and winked at Emily suggestively. _

"So Paige was _Pigskin_?" Hanna exclaimed. Emily nodded.

"I didn't know until she handed me that "Missing child" poster that she called her that," Emily stated. "I felt awful that I never apologized to Paige for ditching her. Soon after Paige was gone, Allie disappeared, though, and of course that consumed my attention for the next couple of years," Emily finished. Hanna nodded, sympathizing.

"So now you have the chance to apologize to Paige. You have a second chance!" Hanna noted.

"Had," Emily corrected. "Messed that up, didn't I? I was trying to explain the differences in shifters, Weres and vampires, and I ended up scaring her off. She seemed…I don't know, sensitive about some things. I think that Shana girl might've put her own spin to the information she was sharing," Emily said darkly, her top lip curling in anger.

"Well…Em, she's more like Shana than she is like us," Hanna said hesitantly. "Plus it makes sense that Shana's biased."

"Are you defending her?" Emily asked in surprise.

"No…well first off, how do you even know what Shana said to Paige? And second, I think you're jealous of her," Hanna pointed out. "You're not thinking clearly. Paige ran off because of something you said, not Shana." She looked up at Emily, who was biting her lip as she thought.

"Yeah I know," Emily said and Hanna felt a wave of the other girl's guilt wash over her. "I should've chosen my words more carefully. I was basically repeating what Alison had told us and it must've sounded hateful."

"Plus…Em, we really need to figure out what to do about that bite," Hanna said, not wanting to agree with Spencer but knowing she was right about this. "You shouldn't have been able to do that, first of all. Werewolves aren't meant to be appealing to us, at all. And I would think that instinctually, Paige wouldn't want to be near you, even if she doesn't know much about being a Were. Yet it seemed like she was reluctant to leave your side."

"Maybe she's a different kind? She could just be a regular shifter," Emily supplied hopefully.

"That turns into a wolf like that? I don't think shifters can turn into wolves like that. She looks and smells like a real Were to me," Hanna replied. "Even Spencer's reaction to her indicated that she was a real Were."

"But why doesn't she smell that way to me? I don't feel the same way I would being near another Were. And you're right, she doesn't smell like a plain shifter," Emily thought out loud. "I can't believe I _bit_ her!"

"Maybe it's good that you didn't taste blood, you might've gone for the kill," Hanna said, a thought dawning on her. "Maybe that's the best way to find out..."

"Are you suggesting that I bite her again?" Emily exclaimed. "Are you out of your friggin' mind?! What if I do try to kill her, what then?"

Hanna shrugged. "I don't know, one less Were?" Emily glared at her. "I'm kidding! Just…I don't know, we could be there to stop you." Emily shook her head.

"There's no way I'm putting her life in danger like that. I've already done enough by marking her, god, will anyone even take her seriously now? A Werewolf with a vampire bite on her neck?" Emily said.

"We can research! I'll have to go over the Oz episodes again and I'll need to see what we have in the house that might pertain to werewolves…" Hanna babbled. Emily gave her an incredulous look.

"What?!"

"How come you were never this excited about doing research for school?" Emily asked.

"Oh please, school was boring," Hanna said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, this is some real world application stuff! And anytime my research involves marathoning sci-fi, I am totally down. Besides, Buffy rocks some amazing outfits," Hanna said and Emily laughed. They sat like that for a bit, then Emily stood up, pulling Hanna up with her.

"I'm gonna go find her. Apologize and explain myself," Emily declared. "Wanna come with?"

"And watch you reunite with your lady love? Of course!" Hanna cried out, excited. Emily's eyebrows smashed together.

"Han, we don't even know if she likes girls," Emily reminded her, "and I'm not trying to _get_ with her, romantically."

"Oh sure, sure," Hanna said, nodding. "Clearly you're not attracted to her in any way."

"I didn't say I wasn't! I just said I wasn't sure if she would be interested…besides, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet," Emily said. She couldn't deny that she felt drawn to Paige, after all her actions have already betrayed her in that sense. But did she want her in _that_ way? It would seem like a part of her did, but she needed to make sure that that part of her and all other parts of her were all on the same level before she made a commitment. She looked at Hanna, who was giving her a knowing smirk, and rolled her eyes.

"Look, just follow me, ok matchmaker?"

"Right behind you!" Hanna squealed. "Where are we going?" She followed Emily who had started walking towards an area thick with trees.

"Well I caught some of Paige's scent over here and I was going to investigate before you stopped me," Emily explained, sniffing the air for that particular scent. "Here! Let's go this way." Not hearing Hanna behind her, Emily turned around.

"You coming?" Emily asked Hanna, who was just standing there.

"Oh no, I can't go with you." Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? You were completely onboard just a second ago." Hanna nodded.

"Oh definitely, but I can't go with you. I realized I have something I need to do. Research! I need to go do research, remember?"

"Well yeah, but that can wait…"

"Nah, I better get started now. I dunno, it just hit me all of a sudden that I really should get started on that research!" Hanna said emphatically. Emily looked at her quizzically, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. It was just…weird.

"Are you sure you're ok with me finding Paige?" Emily asked, just to make sure. Hanna nodded enthusiastically.

"Absolutely! I'll be waiting at the house when you're done, ok?" And with that, Hanna waved and disappeared. Emily wasn't too sure what just happened, but she was set on finding Paige, and it seemed like Hanna was still on her side. She turned back towards her intended path and began to follow Paige's scent.


	14. Chapter 13

**Point of No Return**

Chapter 13

Emily hadn't gone far when she saw a small brown bird flying away. It was some distance away from her, having come up from an area she couldn't quite see yet, given that she was currently making her way up what appeared to be a big hill. She eyed it curiously, briefly wondering if it was the same bird from earlier that night. Memorizing the look of it, she pushed it aside for later figuring if nothing else she could run it by the girls later. There was always the chance that it was nothing, just a harmless bird, but if that same bird kept popping up, with those same markings, it was definitely a cause for concern. Shifters had markings unique to their animal forms that were carried over from their human forms. Paige's hair was the same color as her fur and Emily could even make out the small gash above her right eyebrow in her wolf form. Even shifters who could change to different animals retained the same markings throughout their many forms.

She thought about her conversation with Hanna, before the weird 180 she pulled, and how Hanna said that this was her second chance with Paige. Hanna had hardly batted an eye when she brought up how she felt about Paige, such a long time ago, not that Emily expected her to dramatize it or anything. Hanna tended to be her number one fan when it came to whoever she was interested in, but never blindly. Hanna was adamant that whoever Emily dated had to go through a rigorous "talking to"—a sentiment not surprisingly shared by both Spencer and Aria—and was especially true when it came to any of the other girls' potential significant others. So naturally Emily was pleasantly surprised to find Hanna had not only appraised Paige so quickly, but found her to be a potential suitor, if "lady love" was any indication. _She was reluctant to leave your side_…was that true? Emily didn't even notice. If anything, Paige being near her didn't strike her as anything out of the ordinary and to tell the truth she was more aware of Paige's absence more than anything.

Emily didn't have much going for her in the way of girlfriends. Her first major crush had been Alison and she was hopelessly devoted to her even after she knew that Alison had never felt anything beyond friendship for her. The small hope that lingered in Emily's heart smoldered like barely-lit embers, fueled every so often by a soft smile or lingering touch from Alison. Thinking about it now made Emily feel sick, the self-loathing emanating from that empty place in her chest making her grit her teeth. Her only serious girlfriend had been Maya and their relationship had been equal, in that both contributed equally to the relationship and genuinely cared for each other. After a while it became apparent that they were no longer romantically compatible, the small overlap of commonalities unable to bridge the ever-widening gap created by their differences. Then Alison had returned, reclaiming the girls as her own. Emily, overwhelmed by the appearance of someone she had loved so much and thought dead, was the first one willing to do anything Alison asked of them. Little did she realize what exactly that really meant.

Emily was making good progress, or so she thought considering she wasn't really sure where she was headed. It struck her as odd that she couldn't exactly tell where she was, but she was finding that there were still a lot of things she didn't know and she was pretty ok with that. One thing she did know was that wherever she was going would lead her to Paige and that was something she was more than ok with.

* * *

"Paige! Sit beside me!"

Mike had grabbed Paige's hand again as soon as she appeared in the kitchen. It was a big space, easily fitting a large amount of people if need be. Something about Mike was tugging at Paige's memory, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She could see everyone was bustling around—Jason was flanked by two guys near the stove, a girl was rummaging through the fridge, a few were sitting at the table snacking on what they had swiped from the stove, and Mike was leading her towards the table, where Sean had already seated himself.

"Into older women huh?" one of the guys joked, elbowing Mike playfully. Mike blushed.

"So Paige, I hope you're okay with burgers," Jason called out from the stove.

"I dunno Jason, she could be one of those weird vegetarian wolves," Sean said, winking at the guys at the table who laughed.

"Is that even possible?" Paige asked, confused.

"Excuse me! It is so possible! I was a human first, remember?" one of the guys near Jason cried out indignantly. Paige could see he had a stack of burgers that looked different than the others. He carted them to the table, mock pouting.

"Veggie burgers," Sean whispered to Paige.

"Yeah, I'm good. Definitely not a vegetarian," Paige assured, thinking of all the hunting she had done on her own.

"That's good news. Beside I don't think Chaz is gonna share those burgers," Jason chuckled. Sure enough, Chaz had begun wolfing down his veggie burgers at record speed. "Mike, why don't you come help with these?" Jason said, gesturing towards the platter of burgers on the counter. Mike was quick to get up and grab the platter while another grabbed plates and napkins. The girl who had been at the fridge walked over to the table, set down a variety of sodas and bottled waters and then took a seat across from Paige. She nodded at Paige and looked at the drinks, indicating that she should take one. Paige grabbed a water.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just a helpful hint, don't be shy around the food," the girl warned, "or else you're not eating."

"Pru's right," Jason agreed, setting down a plate full of burgers in front of her, "which is why the first meal is a freebie." Paige's stomach lurched at the sight of food in front of her, the smell of the juicy burgers reminding her just how empty her stomach was at the moment. She waited 'til she saw the others grabbing food before she began stuffing her face.

"Damn, she can eat."

"Of course she can, did you _see_ her wolf form?"

Paige ignored the comment in favor of more food. Soon the air was filled with the sounds of chewing as the rest of the pack dug into their own food and there was little in the way of conversation, or breathing. After a while of raucous chewing, Jason finally spoke.

"Welcome to our home, Paige. We hope that you're ok with dinner," he said after taking a drink of water. Paige looked up at him, still eating, but she nodded.

"Yeah, it's great. Thank you," she said after swallowing her food. "So have you always been here?"

"Not really," Sean answered, looking up from his plate.

"We've been here for a bit. I opened up this place a couple years ago and the rest of these guys, and girl," Jason added, with a nod to Pru, "have made this place their home since then." There was a round of grunts, which Paige took as signs of agreement.

"She can stay right?" Mike asked abruptly, his mouth full of burger as he looked at Jason.

"That's entirely up to her. I have a feeling she may have some questions for us first though, kiddo," Jason smiled. Paige smiled at Mike too, who quickly made his way through another burger.

"First off, who are you all?"

"Do you mean…us as a pack?" Sean asked.

"Yeah, ok, we can start with that."

"She wants our names, Sean," the girl called Pru stated, rolling her eyes.

"So you know Mike and Sean, our resident vegetarian, Chaz, and now Pru," Jason said, throwing a piece of bread across the table at her. "Guys?"

"Lewis."

"Xavier."

"Ok, cool," Paige said. "Now back to the pack question…so you guys are a pack? Like a legit pack?"

"If by legit you mean, real, live humans who turn into wolves and kind of live together and run around under a full moon together, then yeah, we're a legit pack," Sean answered. "Did you not run with a pack?"

"No, I've been on my own for a while," Paige remarked.

"Is that so? Looks to me like you might've had a run-in with a vampire," Pru said and she looked pointedly at Paige's neck. Paige turned her neck awkwardly, brushing the bites with her shoulder and grimacing. _Didn't take long for someone to say something about that_. The others looked at her with a variety of facial expressions, ranging from suspicion to awe.

"Did you kill a vampire?" Mike, the one who was looking at her in awe, asked as he clutched a half-eaten burger.

"Doubt it. Look at those marks, barely even grazed her," Chaz objected, studying them from where he sat.

"That could mean anything! Like she was too fast for the vamper," Mike said defensively. Paige wasn't sure what she had done to deserve his adoration, but she appreciated his standing up for her. He reminded her of a little brother, something she had never had but always wanted.

"Look, I appreciate your hospitality, and your openness in answering my questions, but I reserve the right to keep some things a secret," Paige asserted. Pru scoffed.

"Not if it endangers the pack," Pru said with a steely tone and she looked at Jason for support. Jason looked at Paige as if he was still making up his mind about something.

"I didn't call out for your help, you found me," Paige iterated, annoyed at the other girl. "Thank you, again, but I will be going now," and with that she stood up.

"Wait," Jason said. "I agree with Pru that you should tell us what happened if it will endanger the pack. That does not mean you need to divulge anything else if you don't want to. Paige," he asked her, looking directly into her eyes, "is that bite going to bring us any harm?"

"No," Paige said, thinking about Emily. Jason nodded, but made a mental note of the way Paige's emotions changed. It was different from anything he had felt from her before, and it caused him to feel like he had butterflies in his stomach. He looked at Pru, who was sulking in her seat, but kept her mouth shut.

"That's it?" Paige asked. Jason shrugged.

"Pretty much. I can tell if you're lying and you're not, so, continue. Please sit down," he said, to which Paige sat down. He didn't bother to bring up the butterflies, but he figured it'd be a good thing to discuss with her later, if at all. Those kinds of feelings were personal after all. Paige was still a little puzzled, but didn't question Jason any further. She made a mental note to keep her eye on Pru.

"Please leave this wolf alone about the bite on her neck," Jason announced to all the others, who nodded in agreement.

"Since we're somewhat on the subject, what did you mean when you asked if I was a bitten-wolf earlier?" Paige asked.

"How do you not know that?" Pru laughed. "Are you kidding me? What kind of wolf is she anyway?" she mockingly asked the others. Paige growled at her and to her satisfaction, Pru stopped laughing immediately.

"Be respectful, Pru," Sean said firmly. "She may not know, but you definitely know better." Pru continued to sulk, her arms crossed.

"The way it works with Werewolves is that the wolf-gene, if that's what you want to call it, is carried and passed through the mother. Only true Werewolves are born, not bitten. Male werewolves can bite regular humans and turn them into wolves, but they are smaller and do not carry the gene," Jason explained. "We are all bitten-wolves," he said gesturing to the others around the table. "Naturally, humans born with the Werewolf gene rank higher than bitten-wolves, especially the women. You just so happen to be both."

Paige sat quietly thinking over this new information. She thought about her transformation when she was younger, how sudden it seemed to happen, and true to Jason's assessment she was never bitten by anything, not even a dog and especially not by a wolf. If that was the case, and she was born as a wolf, that meant her mother was a Werewolf. Why would she send Paige to foster-care knowing that her daughter would change into a wolf? How could she leave her to deal with this kind of thing on her own?

"So," Paige began thickly, shifting her thoughts away from her family, "how did you all become a pack?"

Jason eyed her carefully, not expecting this question after what he had just told Paige. He could feel that she was feeling bitter and resentful and was sure she would have more questions about Weres, but he suspected that Paige stuck to her priorities above all else. "In case you already couldn't tell, I have the ability to manipulate emotions. After I was bitten, I did horrible things to myself and I was dangerous. It took me awhile, but I was soon able to get through it, the emotional trauma of being bitten and turning into a wolf. In addition to manipulating emotions, I can also sense them and I decided to try and find those who had been bitten and provide them a place, and some stability, to help them cope and deal with the change in their life," Jason said. "I found Sean first and from then on we've been doing all we can to help those who need it. This place here is our work and home and there's more than enough room for all of us. We have protective enchantments around this place so that vampires cannot wander around here."

"Just vampires?"

"Vampires are the biggest threat to us. Some vampires like to weed out the bitten-wolves and hunt them for fun. It's hard to enchant a vampire, but there are ways to keep hidden from them if you know the right people," Jason said.

"Magic, huh?" Paige said skeptically. "That stuff is actually real?"

"Yeah it is," Jason said, smiling. "And works. For the most part. Anything, uh, smaller than vampires, for lack of a better word, we can generally handle."

"Like shifters? The ones who can turn into any animal?" Paige asked, thinking guiltily of Shana. She wondered if she should contact her…but they didn't really exchange numbers and it wasn't like Paige owned a cellphone in the first place. She hoped Shana wasn't waiting up for her.

"Pretty much. Shifters rank a bit lower than Weres, either born or bitten," Jason said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I've heard," Paige said quietly. Jason didn't question what she meant, although she head Pru scoff.

"Sure, she knows about the _ordinary_ shifters," Pru muttered. Paige ignored her.

"What happens if your defenses are breached?" Paige asked.

"That doesn't happen," Sean assured her. "But if it did, there'd be plenty of time for us to either retreat or figure out a plan of attack. We aren't a warring pack and we do not fight, unless our lives are threatened."

"Why is she asking all of these questions? And why are giving her all of the answers?" Pru asked, unable to contain herself any longer. Paige was really annoyed with her. She could understand that she was worried about Paige as a threat to her and the rest of the pack, but Paige thought she had passed Jason's little test and therefore didn't deserve to be hounded.

"Look," Paige snarled before Jason could speak, "I am not here to hurt you. Once again, Jason invited me here. If you have a problem, we can settle this right now!" She stood up, the air around her crackling as she seemed to grow taller, her hands slamming down on the table top, and glared down at the other girl. She was vibrating with fury and her top lip was curled back as she exposed her clenched teeth. Upon delivering her challenge, Paige had seen Pru move as if she was about to stand up. But it looked like Pru had stopped midway through standing up and she was bent over the table, her hands on the surface, not quite looking at Paige but the area in front of her. Jason stood up suddenly, causing Paige to bristle and growl at him.

"Someone's here," he said anxiously, looking from Paige to Sean, who had also stood up.

"What is it?" Sean asked quickly. Paige glanced at the other wolves in the room, who had all began to vibrate. Pru was still avoiding her eyes, still crouched.

"I don't know…I can't tell. Whatever it is, it didn't trip the alarm but I can sense it. I can't _feel_ anything from it though," Jason explained, giving Sean a significant look. It didn't take long for Sean and the others to decipher what Jason was saying, but Paige didn't understand at all.

"What is going on?" Paige asked. Finally, it seemed that whatever trance Pru had been under lifted as she gave a short bark of laughter. "What?" Paige growled impatiently.

"I told you she would endanger us," Pru said. "Now we have a vampire to deal with."

* * *

It didn't take long for Shana to make her way back to her apartment. She slipped in through the window she had left open, perching on the windowsill for a moment so that she could tuck her wings in before hopping down and shifting back. She stretched for a bit, having been in her bird-form for quite a while without taking a break. She was used to that kind of thing, but it always felt nice to move her limbs around when she became human again.

"Have a good flight?"

Shana walked to her dressed, grabbing a shirt and some shorts to throw on before answering.

"Wasn't bad. Feels pretty good out there," Shana informed her guest. She grabbed a bottle of water that was sitting on her dresser and plopped down on her bed beside her guest. Shana reached over, embracing the other person with one arm and pulling her close. Jenna rested her head on Shana's shoulder.

"Sorry about earlier. Noel's harmless, really," Jenna apologized as Shana took a swig of water.

"Yeah, I know. He's lucky Paige took it so easy on him," Shana commented, thinking about Paige's wolf-form.

"Speaking of which, how is the little wolf fitting in around here?" Jenna asked sweetly. Shana was quiet for a bit. She had listened to Paige and that vampire, Emily, talking about different things until Paige ran off. Shana then followed Paige 'til she was taken in by another pack.

"She's had quite an eventful evening," Shana admitted. "You were right about Emily…it didn't take long."

"Hmmm," Jenna said, smiling. "Emily's almost too predictable. I wonder how long it'll take until she caves under the pressure."

"Longer than you think," Shana intimated quietly, to which Jenna sat up quickly.

"Explain."

"Emily followed Paige. She actually followed her to Jason's place," Shana said, looking at Jenna who was sitting very still.

"Guess we will just have to try harder," Jenna said simply, leaning over to rest her head on Shana's shoulder.


	15. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the long wait! I'm not gonna lie guys, I'm kind of stuck on this story. I've got a slight case of writer's block, which is why I've been updating my other fic. Sounds weird, but it helps whenever I write for my other stories. Helps me get unstuck. Please forgive me, I know it's a shorter chapter, but I'm just trying to get back on track. Plus things are getting busier for me with my other work. Please R/R it really helps me to think about the story and I love hearing what you all have to say! Thanks :) -AS**E

* * *

**Point of No Return**

**Chapter 14**

Jason and Sean had bolted outside of the warehouse, through the same door that Paige and the rest of the pack had entered through earlier that evening, with Paige hot on their heels. If Pru was right, and something had followed Paige here, meaning she led them to Jason's pack, she wanted to be sure that she was there to help defend them. _Could something have followed me here? _Paige wondered. _Who would be following her?_ Behind her, Pru and the rest of the guys were running behind her, as Jason had told them to bring up the rear and to _not attack_ unless ordered to. Rounding the corner, Jason and Sean split apart, leaving Paige in the middle as each of them inhaled the night air deeply. Although she could feel the adrenaline coursing through her body, Paige was entirely relaxed. Breathing in the air made her feel even more at ease and she wondered if Jason was subtly calming them down before they had to do anything dangerous. Paige detected a hint of familiarity as she tasted the air.

"Over here," Jason ordered as he darted forward. Both Sean and Paige followed him quickly through the clearing and into the forest, until Paige realized what it was that she had detected. _Oh shit_, she thought, bolting in front of Jason and Sean as she understood who had followed her here. _But how_?

"What the hell, Paige?" Sean snapped at Paige as she ran faster. _It is_, she thought, _it's her_. Catching sight of Emily (her heart skipping a beat), Paige ran as fast as she could towards her, stopping suddenly in front of her. She barely acknowledged Emily before she turned around, her arms spread wide. She watched as Jason and Sean stopped a few yards in front of her, crouched to attack.

"Wait, I can explain," Paige stated. Behind her, she could feel Emily move closer to her.

"Paige," Emily whispered, making the other girl's stomach drop anxiously, "what's going on?" Paige felt rather than heard the words Emily was saying on her neck, causing the small hairs on her neck and arms to stand up as goosebumps lined practically her entire body. Glad that she was near Paige again, Emily wanted to touch her, but kept herself in check as she didn't think this was the best time, seeing as how she somehow ended up in a pack's territory. She leaned in to smell Paige, recognizing the different wolf scents that surrounded her. They were the same ones she had picked up earlier but she was much more interested in Paige's own scent. Resisting the urge to wrap her arms around the other girl, Emily settled on standing as close to her as possible which meant that Paige could feel her against her back. Paige clenched her jaw tightly, willing her body to not betray her just because Emily was near. _And besides, _she thought_, I'm supposed to be upset with her!_

"This isn't possible. How could a vampire cross the boundaries we set up?"

"I trusted you, Paige. I put my entire pack at risk letting you come here tonight."

"I know, but I didn't think—" Paige insisted, before she was interrupted.

"Damn right you didn't think!"

Emily didn't like whoever was yelling at her Paige. It was a girl's voice, one she did not know, even though the others were vaguely familiar to her. Moving quickly, Emily ducked underneath Paige's arms and zeroed in on the only girl she could see.

"Emily?"

"_Sean_? _Jason_?!"

"_Emily_?"

"Wait, how do you know—" Paige began, her arms falling to her sides. Emily's little maneuver surprised her and she wondered why Emily looked like she was about to attack Pru. She looked at Jason and Sean, who were sporting identical expressions of shock and fear.

"It's Emily!" Mike cried out, running past Jason and Sean (and Paige) to hug Emily. Paige looked at the two in astonishment, her eyebrows quirked together and her mouth slightly open. Looking at Emily, who looked at her from over Mike's head, Paige's eyebrows shot up in a silent "what the hell is going on?" but before Emily could speak, Mike let her go.

"Boy, Emily, you stink," he said, smiling at her. Emily laughed.

"You don't smell so good yourself, Mike. I can't believe you're here. And you two," Emily remarked, looking up at Sean and Jason, "how-?"

"We can explain later," Jason stressed, giving Emily a significant look. _Wait, how _do_ they know each other?_ Paige wondered. "How were you able to find this place?"

"I walked," Emily said, echoing one of Paige's answers from before. It reminded Paige of their conversation and why she had left.

"Why aren't we attacking her?! She shouldn't be here," Pru fumed from behind them, as the other guys watched cautiously. Emily bared her teeth at her. So that was the one.

"Emily didn't come here to harm you," Paige asserted. She grabbed Emily's hand to pull her back, as she was pretty sure Emily baring her teeth at the girl was the exact opposite of what Paige was trying to convince the pack of. Eyes still narrowed at the girl, Emily allowed Paige to pull her back and she was glad that Paige didn't let go of her hand.

"Paige is right, it seems that Emily found what she came here for." Jason looked pointedly from Emily to Paige, causing Paige to duck her head.

"Is Emily your mate?" Mike asked suddenly, looking at the girls' clasped hands then back up to Paige. Paige went from confused to astonished to blushing idiot in less than 3 seconds. Emily giggled.

"My, my what?" Paige asked, fumbling.

"Your mate," Mike reiterated. "Wolves defend their mates to the death…and that's what you were just prepared to do, wasn't it?" Mike asked, looking at Emily for confirmation.

"I was, I mean, I am," Paige answered slowly, "but she's not my mate."

"She's right, Mike. We're just friends," Emily agreed.

"I didn't know friends held hands like that," Mike pointed out. Paige let go of Emily's hand quickly, causing Emily to sigh internally.

"They can't be mates, Montgomery. She's a vampire," Pru emphasized and Mike cocked his head to the side.

"But she's Emily. Emily's not bad, she's one of my sister's best friends," Mike reasoned. "Oh! Is Aria here too?!" Mike looked excitedly at Emily, then around the area as if he thought Aria would suddenly appear.

"Guys, go inside," Jason ordered.

"But!" Mike protested.

"That's enough," Jason said, "for all of you. Let Sean and I talk to Emily and Paige right now." Mike, Pru and the others nodded obediently (Pru less so) and after another quick hug from Mike, they were off.

"What the hell is going on here?" Paige asked, as soon as she lost sight of the others. She hated feeling blindsided, again, after she had just received some much needed answers and was actually starting to feel like she wasn't so lost anymore. Apparently that was just wishful thinking on her part.

"Paige, I was trying to find you. I wanted to apologize," Emily explained, turning to Paige before addressing the others. "Paige?"

Paige wasn't prepared for Emily to apologize to her so quickly. She wished they could talk alone, away from Jason and Sean. Not that she didn't trust the two, but well she just met them so it made sense that she'd want to have this conversation privately.

"We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know how you all know each other," Paige said, changing the subject. Emily acquiesced, determined to have that conversation with Paige later. Whether she wanted it or not.

"Jason is Alison's brother, Paige. We've known each other for a long time," Emily answered, looking at Paige who wouldn't look her in the eye. "And Sean dated Hanna for a bit in high school."

"That about covers it," Sean affirmed. "How is Hanna? Vampire, I take it, if you are any indication?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Emily said.

"Looks like you kept a pretty big secret from us," Sean noted as he looked at Paige.

"I told you all that I had the right to my privacy, and even Jason agreed with me. Emily is not a threat and I didn't see the need to let you in on my business when it didn't affect you," Paige disagreed, growling slightly. "How was I to know that she would follow me here? According to the both of you, this shouldn't have happened. Now why is that?"

"Maybe it has something to do with that bite on your neck," Jason uttered, finally speaking up. He had been watching the way the girls interacted with each other. They didn't act like any Were and Vampire should—in fact, whereas Weres and Vamps generally tended to avoid being near each other at any point in time, Emily and Paige seemed to find ways to get closer. As much as Jason had known and been around Emily when they were human, his natural instinct was to keep away from her now and he suspected that it was something Mike had to fight as well when he ran up to Emily earlier. It took a lot of energy for him to keep still and he could feel the same anxious energy radiating off of Sean. Paige, on the other hand, was pouring off waves of contentment and the tenor of the small waves of anxiousness that he could feel from her reminded Jason of himself when he went on his first date.

"I'm not sure what to tell you. There was a misunderstanding and I got bitten," Paige supplied before Emily could speak. Jason noted that whenever Paige defended Emily verbally, she moved slightly in front of her as if to protect her physically.

"Who did you see about it?" Jason asked, continuing on when he saw the confused look on Paige's face. "The bite marks looked like they healed alright."

"We didn't…" Emily began, but Paige spoke up.

"I didn't see anyone, she barely nicked me," Paige snapped.

"When wolves get bitten by Vamps, they need to get the venom out. Did you see someone to get the venom out?" Sean asked. Paige thought back to when it happened, remembering the tiny drops of blood on her palm.

"Did you bleed any?" Jason asked.

"Barely. Just two tiny drops," Paige answered dismissively.

"If you bled, there was venom involved. How long ago did that happen?" Jason asked. He looked at Emily, who was staring at the mark on Paige's neck like she was just understanding the severity of what had been done.

"Oh Paige…"

"Did you taste blood?" Jason asked Emily, who shook her head no. "So only a partial connection has been made?"

"A partial connection?" Paige said, confused. What was all this venom talk about? She didn't remember Shana mentioning any of this when they had talked at the party.

"That's probably how she managed to get through the spell," Sean muttered. Jason nodded. "But what I don't understand," Sean continued, "is why wouldn't you have remembered about your venom adversely affecting her? Did you even think of that when you bit her? Do you know what kind of danger you were putting her in?" Paige growled at Sean, not liking his tone.

"What exactly are you implying, Sean?" Paige growled. Emily grasped Paige's arm, calming her.

"He's right Paige. I should never have done that…and it didn't dawn on me to think of the repercussions…even if now those concerns seemed to be for nothing," Emily proclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"I bit Paige a few days ago…and she's absolutely fine, save for two small bumps on her neck," Emily described, looking to Paige for confirmation.

"Emily's right. Besides, from what I've heard, shifters and Weres aren't supposed to be appealing to Vampires…and it's not like Emily attacked me as she would an enemy. I don't think she makes a habit of biting Werewolves," Paige added. "Of course, I could be wrong." Paige looked at Emily, smirking.

"You're the only one," Emily assured her, smiling. Sean and Jason exchanged a glance. Were they…_flirting_?

"So anyway," Sean said, clearing his throat, "Not to be in your business, but have you looked into this any further? This kind of thing doesn't happen often…"

"Doesn't happen at all," Jason corrected. It was strange to think that these two were only under the influence of a partial connection. He wondered if they might've known each other before, or maybe if there were other forces at play. Paige had given the impression that she was upset with Emily over something, but Jason could tell that she had to work pretty hard at maintaining it. Of course he couldn't read Emily at all, being a vampire.

"Yeah, we're researching…" Emily assured them.

"We?" Jason asked.

"Yes, the girls and I," Emily stated.

"You mean, my sister?" Jason asked. Paige watched Emily carefully.

"Actually no. Alison is gone."

* * *

"Hanna, what the hell are you doing here?" Spencer asked as she and Aria walked into their house.

"Last I checked, Spence, this house belonged to all of us," Hanna reminded her, not moving from her spot on the couch. Her eyes were practically glued to the TV in front of her. Aria sat down beside her.

"What are you watching?" Aria asked. She saw tons of dvds on the table and couch surrounding Hanna.

"Buffy, duh. It's for research," Hanna stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, still not looking at the others.

"How long have you been doing this? I thought you went to go find Emily," Spencer said. She and Aria had decided to stop by the house before they visited covens. Aria knew it was because Spencer wanted to see if Emily had come back. "Is Em here?"

"Nah, she's not. I was with her but she went to go find Paige," Hanna reported.

"Why didn't you go with her?" Spencer demanded. Of course Hanna would leave Emily alone to find that wolf.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know," Hanna responded. "I should've made popcorn. Wanna grab me a snack? I haven't eaten in a while." Hanna was still not looking at the other girls. Spencer angrily strode across the living room and shut the TV off. Instantly, it seemed like a spell had been lifted from Hanna as her eyes focused on her friends. "Woah, what happened?"

"You were watching TV…how long have you been watching TV?" Aria asked, looking worriedly at Hanna.

"It can't have been that long…I was with Em and we were walking and then I was struck with the overwhelming urge to watch Buffy," Hanna recounted, confused. "What effing year is it?"

"Calm down, drama queen," Spencer huffed. "It seems like you were bewitched. Must've been pretty powerful, for it to hit you like that. And Emily wasn't affected?"

"Well she's not here, is she?" Hanna answered, looking around. "Why was it just me?"

"A powerful spell, huh?" Aria mused, looking at Spencer. "Guess it's a good thing we're gonna go talk to some witches, hm?"

"Come on, Hanna," Spencer said. "Looks like we have a few more questions to ask them."

"Yeah, ok, but can we still get that snack?" Hanna asked as she stood up and stretched.

"Fine, but we're going to hunt near a Starbucks. I need caffeine," Spencer stated.


End file.
